Oscar forerunner ‘The Revenant’ to release uncut in Sindh

Provincial censor boards give Universal rating to the Oscar forerunner that was rated ‘R’ in US, ‘PG 15’ in UK

KARACHI:

Whether the bear takes the Oscar or Leo, one thing is for sure that Pakistani fans are not going to miss their epic fight sequence in The Revenant — at least not the ones living in Sindh. The Alejandro González Iñárritu film will release across Pakistan Thursday (today) and has been given a U (Universal) rating by the Sindh Board of Film Certification (SBFC) and Punjab Board of Film Certification (PBFC). The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was the only board to give the movie an A (Adult) rating.

The U rating is our equivalent for Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) G (General) rating, which allows admission for people of all ages and implies that there is nothing in the film that may offend the parents for viewing by children. The A rating is our equivalent of MPAA’s NC 17 that considers a film strictly viewable by adults only and no one under the age of 17 is allowed to enter the cinema. In our case, the age limit is 18 and above. The very popular R (Restricted) rating comes somewhere in the middle as it allows people under the age of 17 to watch the film only if they are accompanied by a guardian.



“The Revenant can only be watched by people aged 18 and above,” CBFC Chairman Mobashir Hasan told The Express Tribune. “According to the law, exhibitors or cinema owners must ensure that they check NICs, driving licences or some sort of IDs that clearly show the viewer’s age before allowing him or her inside the cinema.”



Mobashir elaborated that giving The Revenant an A rating was a unanimous decision. “Due to excessive violence and abusive language, all the board members unanimously decided to give it an Adult rating.” Two ‘nude’ scenes in particular have been excised by the CBFC. This certification will apply to cinemas in Islamabad Capital Territory and cantonments around the country.



The Punjab censor board, on the other hand, has passed the film with a Universal rating, stated a source in the PBFC. “The film has been edited at a few places and given a U rating in Punjab,” the source, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune.



The Sindh censor board previewed the film last week and gave it a U rating as well, after much discussion and debate. “It was a two to one vote for a Universal rating from the three members that previewed the film,” SBFC Chairman Fakhre Alam told The Express Tribune. “The Revenant was passed uncut. It is an example of powerful cinema and we wish it all the best for its box office performance,” he added.

Ironically, the MPAA’s certification body gave the movie an R rating for “strong frontier combat and violence including gory images, sexual assault, language and brief nudity”. According to the British Board of Film Certification (BFFC), the film was given a 15 rating, which deems it suitable for people aged 15 and older, citing “strong violence, bloody injury detail and strong language” in its insight section.





The Revenant tells the story of a fur trapper who seeks revenge after his fellows leave him behind for dead. For their roles, both Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy have bagged Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Actor in a Supporting Role categories, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2016.

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