New Delhi:
The film industry has for long shared a bitter-sweet relationship with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Writer-lyricist Varun Grover, who has films like
Gangs of Wasseypur and
Masaan to his credit, says the fear of facing objection by the censor board works in his favour as it 'opens the gates of creativity.'
"When I write a script, I always have that censor board guy standing over my shoulder in my mind as a thought, whether the 'censor board will clear it or not'. That blocks creativity and that is a big problem.
But with the censor board being so brutal right now, we have to think of other creative ways to express, which is giving another route to creativity," Varun Grover told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
The CBFC has, over the years, attracted ire for banning films, demanding cuts in screenplay and for issuing diktats on film content.
For
Masaan, Varun Grover wrote an enduring story of realities clashing with modern times in a small town.
The writer noted that issues raised by the censor board sometimes evoked 'immense surprise.'
"When we go to the censor board, they point to things that you would have never imagined would be objectionable. Like in
Masaan, they objected to a few cuss words which fit the context. But they forced us to change them," he said.
Varun sincerely believes that the censor board needs to "look beyond their mindset of 30 years ago".
An IIT-alumnus, Varun, who grew up in Dehradun and Lucknow, started his creative journey by writing for the small screen with works like
The Great Indian Comedy Show and
10 Ka Dum, before switching to the silver screen as a lyricist and writer.
His work diary includes names like
Ankhon Dekhi and
Dum Laga Ke Haisha.
Other than weaving stories with his words, Varun Grover also has a knack for comedy. He has also spread awareness as a political satirist with a group called 'Aisi Taisi Democracy', which also includes Indian Ocean's Rahul Ram and social-satirist Sanjay Rajoura.
The group aims at changing mindsets with humour and music. They also use the digital medium to reach a wider set of audience through a digital video entertainment company's YouTube channel. The group's new video, which will showcase the highlights of shows held in cities earlier this year, will be exclusively featured on Being Indian Channel in October.
Varun Grover said the trio gets stories from different eras and weaves them anew to present the modern context.
He said, "We talk about stories which are very personal on some level. Sanjay talks about his childhood, I talk about mine and Rahul about his -- the 1970s was Rahul, 1980s was Sanjay and 1990s was me, so we cover three time zones."
But India has undergone a tremendous change since then, what about that? Varun was of the opinion that India may have transformed, but 'the prejudices and basic failures are the same'.
"Success has changed, but basic failure of education and all the issues are the same. We address issues like morality, political issues, issues which resonate with everybody like development, malls coming in smaller towns," he said.