‘Beef movie banned because of title’: Shashi Tharoor on Kerala film fest row

COngress MP Shashi Tharoor on midweek slammed the Centre’s conclusion to hold up censor freedom for viewing of some films at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), saying the country is “much larger than the rulebook” that bureaucrats follow.Calling the delay “unfortunate”, he said that no movie should be denied permission."I really think this is an unfortunate development. Kerala has a very knowledgeable cinematic culture. Clearance has never been an issue before. No film should be denied (permission). Some of these films have actually been screened in India before. So it is petty of us to bring in these kinds of considerations. Some of the earlier films that were banned or prevented from getting clearance... It was laughable. There was a film that's 100 years old that is available on YouTube. How can you suddenly say, 'Don't show it in the film festival'?" PTI quoted Tharoor as saying.Pointing out that a movie called “Beef”, which wasn't about cow slaughter, got banned, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said the movie was denied clearance because “they saw the title”."You have a film called Beef. It is not about cow slaughter. It is actually about a rap artist. They banned it because they saw the title. Our bureaucrats have to develop a more refined sensibility because it is India's image that is at stake," Tharoor said.Shashi Tharoor said the world will appreciate our culture "if we behave accordingly"."Our bureaucrats have to really grow up and appreciate that this country is much larger than the rulebook that they are following," he said.What is the row over the film festival in Kerala?Organisers of the IFFK 2025 were awaiting official censor exemptions to screen around 19 films, including those related to the Palestine conflict, Sergei Eisenstein's 100-year-old classic Battleship Potemkin, and another film titled Beef, whose content has nothing to do with its title, PTI reported.According to the report, discussions were ongoing with the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to obtain permission to screen these films at the 30th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala, being held from December 12 to 19.Organisers told PTI that requests for censor board exemptions for the films were submitted to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting earlier, and discussions are being held at the highest level to secure approval.The 30th edition of the IFFK 2025 was inaugurated on December 12 by State Culture Minister Saji Cherian at a function attended by dignitaries from the film world from across the globe.