‘CBFC asked for 35 cuts...’: Lokesh Kanagaraj says Coolie suffered ₹50 crore revenue loss due to A-certificate

Lokesh Kanagaraj spoke to the press recently about his last film, the Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie and revealed their troubles with the CBFC.

Filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj recently spoke about the censorship hurdles he faced with his Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie. Revealing that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had asked for 35 cuts and later certified the film A, the director claimed the film suffered a ₹50 crore revenue loss as a result.

Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj on the sets of their film, Coolie.

Lokesh Kanagaraj on CBFC hurdles for Coolie

Amid news of Vijay’s Jana Nayagan jumping hoops to secure CBFC certification, Lokesh spoke to the press about the struggles his film Coolie had also faced with the censor board. He also confirmed that he has a cameo in the H Vinoth-directorial.

Speaking to the press, Lokesh revealed that the CBFC had initially recommended 35 cuts. But the filmmaker believed that these modifications would dilute the film’s impact. Hoping for reconsideration, when the makers applied for re-censorship, the outcome remained unchanged. “I was okay with the 9 muted words they asked, but not the 35 cuts. Do we release a complete film with an A certificate or an incomplete film with a UA certification was the question. We applied for re-censoring, but they once again recommended the same 35 cuts,” he said.

Unwilling to compromise on the film’s narrative, Lokesh was given the option to have the film certified A if he did not want to make the cuts. The filmmaker revealed that, more than anything else in the film, a depiction of electric cremation was cited as a key reason why the film couldn’t be certified U or UA. “The board stated that the film thematically falls under an A certificate due to the depiction of electric cremation,” he said.

Lokesh stood by his decision not to cut scenes from the film and let Coolie be certified A by the CBFC. However, this came at a steep price, as the filmmaker claims it resulted in a ₹40-50 crore revenue loss for the film due to the restricted audience being unable to watch it.

About Coolie

Apart from Rajinikanth, Coolie featured Nagarjuna Akkineni, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj and Rachita Ram. The film also had appearances by Aamir Khan and Pooja Hegde. Released on August 14 last year to lukewarm reviews, the film still managed to collect over ₹500 crore worldwide.

Lokesh will soon direct Allu Arjun in a yet-to-be-titled film. He also clarified at the press meet that Kaithi 2 with Karthi will go on floors after his film with Arjun.