CBFC Cuts Intimate Scenes, Mutes Bold Dialogues

Yash’s Toxic is all set to hit theatres in a few more hours. Directed by Geetu Mohandas, Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups features extensive violence, adult themes and intimate content. Even the trailer and teaser had already hinted at its mature and bold content. With its ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board, the film is clearly aimed at a mature audience. Ahead of the film’s release, full details of the censor cuts and muted bold dialogues have come out.

The final runtime of Toxic’s original Kannada version is 3 hours, 14 minutes and 12 seconds (194 minutes and 12 seconds). The CBFC reportedly made several changes to the original Kannada version of the film. The cuts include intimate and violent scenes, along with changes to certain dialogues and subtitles. The Censor Board directed the film’s team to add a disclaimer with a voiceover explaining the nature of the story. Anti-smoking and anti-drug warning messages were also added.

Cuts & Mutes

Several changes were made to the dialogues and subtitles. The word ‘motherf*r’ was replaced in two places in the subtitles, while ‘fking’ was replaced in as many as 16 places. The sentence ‘You want to f*k’was also muted.

The CBFC also ordered multiple visual cuts. A scene involving a child committing murder and a piston-pumping scene were reduced. Physical intimacy scenes were reduced by around 30% in seven places. A scene showing Raaya, played by Yash, with a woman on a bed was reportedly reduced by 50 percent. Overall, around 33 seconds of violent and adult content were either removed or reduced.

There was also speculation that the dubbed versions of Toxic in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam were passed without cuts. However, it is unlikely. The makers first obtained a CBFC certificate for the original Kannada version and then incorporated the CBFC-suggested changes into the dubbed versions (Telugu, Tamil, Hindi) before submitting them to the Censor Board.