Interview | Varun Grover: ‘Censorship in itself is a wrong idea for a country like ours’

Lyricist and writer Varun Grover talked about the place of censorship in cinema in India. His debut short film Kiss tackles this subject matter.

Varun Grover's short film Kiss interrogates the idea of censorship in cinema with a delicate touch. Within 15 minutes, the film also interrogates the thought process, prejudices and subjectivities that are connected with the way one watches a film. In an exclusive interview with HT, Varun along with actor and noted lyricist Swanand Kirkire talked about the film's concerns, their collaboration and why censorship should not exist in the first place. (Also read: Varun Grover's short film Kiss turns cinema into a mirror for introspection)

Varun Grover's directorial debut Kiss is available to stream on Mubi India.

The news item that inspired Kiss

Varun opened up about the initial spark that led to the making of the film several years ago. He recalled, “There was a news item which said that some film was censored at that time and it said that the censor board had asked the makers to reduce the kissing scene from 22 seconds to 11 seconds. That made me wonder what was the thought process behind this? Who are these people who are sitting there with a timer and cutting down kissing scenes by seconds? I would have understood if they had said completely remove the scene but saying we want this duration and not that… but there was something going on which we don't know. So I thought I want to do something about it and this was somewhere around 2018.”

He went on to add, “Then cut to 2021 during COVID, when I wanted to write something and make a short film, this idea popped up. I wanted to not do it in a comedy genre, which is a very easy to kind of make fun of this mentality, but to actually try to understand who are these people who end up in the censor board and then make these decisions. I wanted to understand the lives of these people who eventually take these kinds of calls. So it was a bit of an empathetic understanding look while also retaining the bizarreness of the situation.”

Varun shared the news item that inspired the film in his latest post on X. Take a look!

Swanand Kirkire knew he wanted to be a part of the film from day one. He shared, “Varun and I go a long way. We are friends and I admire his work a lot. Earlier we have collaborated in Masaan and have always remained in touch. He had sent me the script and I had liked it a lot. He had offered me a different part in the film, and I had agreed to that as well. But there was some issue with dates and it got delayed due to the pandemic. I called Varun to tell that I was available and he said that he had another role for me, to which I said yes immediately! I was very happy that I could become a part of this film.”

Varun made Kiss before his feature film All India Rank. What was more challenging- a feature film or a short film? Varun says, “Every film has its difficulties. This being my first film I had more of a fascinating experience being on the set on the first day. It was as if I had walked into a dream! Luckily I had a fantastic crew to support me, who were more experienced than I am. Everyone had many films before them, and they were doing their best and taking care of me as well. Like I had no idea of colour palette, which was being discussed by the design team. I simply stood there and I left it on them to take care of that aspect of the film. I said yes because I trusted them.”

‘Censorship in itself is a wrong idea for a country like ours’

Kiss talks about censorship in cinema. As a filmmaker, he wants more artists to speak about the issue. What can change?

He says, “I don't think giving a list of things that should change will change things. We are that much aware of the world… a lot of things can change, should change. Censor board is also doing what the society… they think it is ready for. They have this superiority complex that we will tell the world what to do and what not to watch. I think at least more artists can speak about it. Censorship in itself is a wrong idea for a country like ours. For a democracy, there should not be censorship. The name of the body is Central Board of Film Certification, not film censorship. They are supposed to certify a film but they are also censoring and that should not be the case. It should not be allowed, it should not be the norm.”

Swanand agrees. He adds, “Not just the censor board, but so many other things should change. It should become more human than they are. I think the only censorship that should happen is in the head of the creator. When they decide why they are telling a certain story, because it is a very fragile line. It is ultimately the artist's responsibility. From there it should start. And, censorship should not become a political tool to only tell a certain kind of story and stop people from telling a certain kind of story. That is what this film addresses. People who are censoring, who are they? Are they equipped? Are they open-minded enough to judge a film? Everyone has their own values, their own traumas, their own childhood conditioning… The film is compassionate in that sense. I think that is the beginning. Compassion is the way to lead. It is a short way and a short step, but yeah, let's start with compassion.”

Kiss is available to watch on Mubi India.