Actor-politician Ravi Kishan has had a three-decade-long film career and as he claims, he is known as the “national crush” and the “Brad Pitt of Bihar.” Ravi was recently asked about the recent censorship problems of the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj, which did not get a certificate, and even after its release on an OTT platform, it was pulled just two days ago. Ravi, who describes himself as an “encyclopedia on cinema”, was also asked about the certification body and how he would feel if one of his projects was heavily censored by the CBFC.When asked about the recent censorship problems faced by Satluj, Ravi said there must be a “sensitivity” issue. He distanced himself from the subject and said, “I don’t know about it. I just know that the film came and was taken. To be honest, I don’t know the details.”He then added that artists should be responsible while making films and said that in an attempt to make an entertaining film, they “must not harm any community or misrepresent any historical event.” Ravi then gave the examples of Dhurandhar, Maa Behen and the Netflix show Maamla Legal Hai and said that these projects were released successfully. Ravi has worked as an actor in Maa Behen and Maamla Legal Hai.He said in an interview with Screen, “We must be responsible to society because what we do affects the youth. We must be responsible for writing the script and making the movie.” He added that in the past “books were burned, people were taught the wrong history” and he said that films should be very careful to represent historical events correctly.Ravi was then asked how we would feel if, as an actor, his work was scrutinized by the CBFC, or if one of his films got a long list of cuts by the censor board. To this, Ravi said, “I ask, ‘Why?’ I ask, ‘What did I do wrong?'”He then said that censorship problems have existed in India for a long time and talked about the Emergency period in the 1970s. “It happened during Sholay too. It happened in thousands of films. It also happened during the Congress regime. Kishore Kumar banned from radio. Itihaas mein bahut tandav macha hai (History is full of such examples). But now when something happens, I ask, ‘What’s wrong?’ I will ask if I have offended a community, misrepresented history, told a false story, and then I will change it myself. Because a lot of money is invested in films,” he said. Ravi said that there were times when films also received 50-100 cuts.Ravi will next be seen in Mirzapur – The Movie. The film, based on the Amazon Prime Video web series, was heavily criticized for its use of expletives. The film will be released in theaters on September 4.
