CBFC denies ‘UA’ certificate for ‘Marco,’ blocking satellite rights over extreme violence

The regional examination committee rejected the ‘Marco’ producers' request for category conversion on February 19, T Nadeem Thufali, regional officer of CBFI, told PTI on Wednesday. Starring Unni Mukundan, the film, one of the highest-grossing with an ‘A’ certificate, was released on December 20 last year and began streaming on SonyLIV from February 14.

Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam film ‘Marco,’ termed as the most violent movie ever made in the language, will not get satellite streaming rights as the regional office of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has rejected a plea by its producers for category conversion from ‘A’ certificate to ‘UA’ for obtaining TV rights.

The regional examination committee had turned down the application of ‘Marco‘ producers for category conversion on February 19, T Nadeem Thufali, regional officer of CBFI, told PTI on Wednesday.

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The film, starring Unni Mukundan and one of the biggest grossers with an ‘A’ certificate, was released on December 20 last year. The movie has been streaming on OTT platform SoniLiv from February 14.

Thufali said satellite rights are given to films with either ‘U’ or ‘UA’ certificates. The films are categorized and certified based on their content, he said.

Parents should be vigilant to ensure that children do not watch movies with extreme violence, he said, adding the committee had made a formal recommendation to the Centre that the streaming of the movie be prohibited on the OTT platform also.

“However, CBFC has no regulatory powers on OTT streaming,” he added.

Censor Board member G M Mahesh said several private complaints have been filed by citizens thinking that CBFC has powers to check the OTT streaming. “That is why we have made a formal request at the ministerial level,” he told PTI.

‘Marco,’ written and directed by Haneef Adeni, was cited by political, social, and cultural personalities as one of the films glorifying violence and misleading the youth, in the context of rising incidents of crime in the recent past in Kerala.

Meanwhile, Shareef Mohammed, producer of the movie, defended the film, saying said the writer-director must show on screen what is required for the movie’s subject. “It is not cinema that should change, but our perspective,” he said.

‘Marco’ was not the first film with violence shown on screens, he said, adding all warnings had been properly displayed at theatres before screenings.

He, however, said reports of increasing violence among the youth in the state is scary. “I will not make any film that apparently promotes violence from here on,” he said.