MovieChat Forums > Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) Discussion > Indian Version

Indian Version

posted 15 years ago by bernie-81
2 replies | jump to latest

I spent some formative years in India and saw this movie there when it first came out (or maybe 2 years later...film distribution lagged there!!).

The Indian censors apparently took severe exception to the references to 'suttee' and 'thugee' and, if my memory serves me correctly, cut the TOTAL Indian sequence out!!

Consequently the film jumped from the Med straight to Hong Kong!!! Suddenly Shirley Macleine has joined the travellers with no explanation whatsoever.

I wonder if this huge cut is still insisted upon by the Indian censors today??

Anyway those viewers bored by the length of the film might find the '50's Indian version preferable since the cut does absolutely no harm to the film whilst shortening it significantly. I watched it on British TV yesterday and can vouch for that!!!!!

I believe there were significant problems with the Indian censors with 'Gandhi' too!!??

[–] fdes-terence 14 years ago

Hi Bernie. I just watched the DVD last week and in it's current censor certification in India... NO SCENES were clipped. It's all there...the horrifying "suttee" or "thugee". Enjoyed the film very much. Though I must admit that the book was far more exciting and enriching when I first read it more than 32 years ago.

[–] bernie-81 9 years ago

Hi...I have only just seen your post ... sorry for the delay!!!

I'm wondering whether DVD censorship in modern India is in step with cinema censorship? I would assume that both practices are still not generally or openly discussed?