How do films get rated nowadays? The new and “improved” Superman is just out and everyone is making a beeline to see it. Especially kids. All hell broke loose when my six-year-old daughter Damini discovered that my son Siddharth had gone off to see the film with a friend of his. More importantly, without her. He sauntered back and informed me that I would be crazy to take her for the film. It is VIOLENT, he stressed, speaking out each syllable slowly as if I was some dim-witted creature. More tantrums. My daughter wailed, “He’s saying that because he doesn’t want me to go.”
Surrounded by all this ballyhoo, I decided to go to an arbitrator, friend Namrata who reviews films and writes on cinema for Outlook. Namrata was off to see Superman that very evening. It was almost 11 pm when she SMS-ed back, “Don’t take her, the violence might be disturbing.” Hello? I thought the film was rated “U”? So, back to my question, who is rating these movies? The only way out for me now is to take her for damp squib “Krrish” – and seriously wondering if I can outsource it to someone. Two and a half hours of Hrithik Roshan’s biceps and Priyanka Kapoor’s gyrations are more than even a devoted mother can handle.
First published on July 6, 2006
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