'Spectre's' James Bond Kissing Scenes Are Censored by Indian Film Certification Board

 Saw the new James Bond movie #Spectre tonight with the family, so awesome! It is a must watch. #jamesbondfan #007 #goodfuckingmovies #mustsee #goodmovies #jamesbond

A photo posted by Kyle Antyx (@therealantyx) on Nov 18, 2015 at 7:50pm PST

The latest James Bond movie, Spectre, will be released in India on November 20. However, the film is being heavily censored and the Indian Film Certification Board objected to many of the scenes from the Bond film, including the kissing scenes between the lead stars.

It was back in 1933, when Indian audience saw the onscreen kiss for the first time when star Devika Rani kissed her co-star, Himanshu Rai, in Karma. India was under British empire at that time so there were no troubles in getting the certificate from the Censor Board. A lot of things have changed over time in Indian film industry. The ways of story telling and direction have touched new horizons but at the same time, the Indian Censor Board became very strict when it came to showing explicit scenes on the big screen.

According to Variety, the latest film in Bond franchise, Spectre, has to face some crucial cuts in the reel because of the content which are contrary to Indian culture, like kissing onscreen or using offensive words. The Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has ordered filmmakers of Spectre to reduce the kissing scenes between Daniel Craig, Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux by 50%. 

However, the decision of reducing the scene by half is not accepted by the board member, Ashoke Pandit. In his series of tweets, Pandit showed outrage against the Board and called it, "mockery of the freedom of a filmmaker."

#SanskariJamesBond has a small idol of Ganeshji on the dashboard of his Aston Martin — Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) November 18, 2015

Bae: No one's home * #SanskariJamesBond sends security guards to protect her*

— Khayali Pulav (@dekhbhaidek) November 18, 2015

At the same time, several Bond fans in India came on Twitter and by their satirical tweets, showed their outrage against the censor board. #SanskariJamesBond started to trend in India after the news of reducing the kissing scenes came to light. In Hindi language, Sankari means cultural, so Bond fans started to make fun of Cultural James Bond, a bond who will be allowed in India after he crosses the firewall by Indian Censor Board.

#SanskariJamesBond scolds the vamp for wearing short dress and gives her a dupatta to hide her cleavage, before beating up the villain — The Bad Doctor (@doctoratlarge) November 18, 2015

The 24th film in Bond series, Spectre also features Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Andrew Scott.