Bollywood films that got banned in India

‘Bandit Queen’

'Bandit Queen' is a biographical film based on the life of Phoolan Devi. It was directed by Shekhar Kapur and starred Seema Biswas in the titular role. The film was banned because it had excessive use of abusive language.

‘Black Friday’

'Black Friday' is an Indian crime film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap based on Black Friday – The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts. The film was so controversial that it could not release in India for two years.

‘Dazed in Doon’

'Dazed In Doon' is a film made by Ashvin Kumar. The film became controversial as the school authorities say that it doesn’t give the school a good name.

‘Firaaq’

'Firaaq' was a political thriller film based on Gujarat riots of 2002 and it highlighted the communal disharmony between Hindus and Muslims. The film was eventually banned.

‘Fire’

This romantic drama film was written and directed by Deepa Mehta and starred Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. It was one of the first films in India to explicitly show homosexual relation between sisters-in-law.

‘Inshallah, Football’

'Inshallah, Football' is a documentary film by Ashvin Kumar about an aspiring footballer who was denied the right to travel abroad on the pretext that his father was a militant. Because of the sensitive subject, the movie got banned.

‘Paanch’

'Paanch' is a crime thriller directed by Anurag Kashyap that never got released in India because of the depiction of violence, drug abuse and bad language.

‘Parzania’

The movie was directed by Rahul Dholakia and it featured Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in lead roles. The film is inspired by a true story of a 10-year-old Parsi boy, Azhar Mody. It was based on communal riots of Gujarat in 2002.

‘The Pink Mirror’

CBFC banned Sridhar Rangayan’s film on Indian transsexuals. They cited that the film was ‘vulgar and offensive’. The film still remains banned in India, but has been screened at numerous film festivals all over the world.

‘Urf Professor’

'Urf Professor' was directed by Pankaj Advani and starred Manoj Pahwa, Antara Mali and Sharman Joshi. This film had black comedy and bold scenes due to which it got banned.

‘Water’

'Water' is a Canadian film written and directed by Deepa Mehta, with screenplay by Anurag Kashyap. It is set in 1938 backdrop and explores the lives of widows at an ashram in Varanasi. It got banned because of controversial subjects such as misogyny and ostracism.

‘Sins’

'Sins' is a controversial Bollywood film directed and produced by Vinod Pande. The film involves a Catholic priest who is romantically involved with a young woman. The film was protested by those who felt it was a negative portrayal of Catholicism.

‘Unfreedom’

'Unfreedom' is a film by Raj Amit Kumar, which dealt with a love story between two lesbians, on the backdrop of a fundamentalist society.

‘Kamasutra’