Over 720 hours of film content altered by Indian censor board in recent years

Between 2017 and 2025, Indian censor board altered more than 720 hours of film content, data show. The changes included deleting scenes or music, replacing dialogues, and inserting metadata such as anti-smoking warnings.

Data further show that nearly 550 hours (76%) of the modified content were deletions, about 80 hours (12%) were insertions, and less than 35 hours (5%) were replacements. The remaining changes involved other type of modifications. It is important to note that these figures refer to the total duration of content altered, not the number of cuts. A single cut can range from several minutes of deletions (such as removing a song) to just a second (like muting a word). Chart 1 illustrates this split.

 Notably, deletions, insertions, and replacements can be applied to visual scenes, music, or dialogues. Data show that over 366 hours of modifications involved visual scenes (50%), 183 hours involved music (25%), and close to 120 hours (17%) were metadata insertions such as warnings. Chart 2 illustrates the exact split

To better understand these terms, let’s look at specific modifications in well-known films. In Viduthalai Part 2, released in 2024, directed by Vetrimaaran, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Manju Warrier, a line about vote being used as a weapon was added. This action falls under the category of an “insertion,” and the media element involved in this case was “text dialogue.” Whenever anti-smoking messages are overlaid on the screen, they are also categorised as “insertions.” In this case, the media element is “metadata,” since the warning does not alter dialogues or visuals.

In the Oscar-winning 2019 Korean film Parasite, scenes involving stabbing, blood on the face, intimate moments on the couch, and other such sequences were removed. These changes are categorised as “deletions,” with the affected media element being “visual scenes.” In total, Parasite had 3 minutes and 54 seconds of content modified.

This pairing—deletions of visual scenes—was the most common form of censorship. As noted earlier, deletions made up 76% of all actions, while visual scenes accounted for 50% of the modified media elements (see Charts 1 and 2).

In the 2023 film OMG 2, starring Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Tripathi, scenes depicting the “messenger of God meditating and bathing” were replaced with approved visuals. Such changes fall under “replacements,” with the affected media element being “visual scenes.” In Dabangg 3, instead of muting profane dialogues, some were substituted with milder expressions. These, too, are categorised as “replacements,” but the affected media element in this case is “dialogues.”

These conclusions are based on data collated by CBFC Watch, an independent research project dedicated to exploring film censorship actions across India. The open source data base developed by Diagramchasing.fun can be accessed here https://cbfc.watch/