Controversial comedy film gets censors' okay

A COMEDY which has caused some controversy in India has been rated NC16 by the Board of Film Censors - not for religious sensitivities but for its raunchy humour.

The 81-minute film, The Love Guru, stars comedian Mike Myers, who also co-wrote the script. He plays Guru Pitka, an American who grew up in India and becomes a Hindu wise man. He is hired by an ice hockey team owner (Jessica Alba) to reconcile the team's star player (Romany Malco) with his estranged wife (Meagan Good).

Hindu groups in India and the United States had protested against the movie, contending that it appeared to be lampooning Hinduism and using Hindu terms frivolously.

As the censors had received feedback that the film might be offensive, the board referred it to the Films Consultative Panel.

The panel comprises 60 members drawn from different professions, religions and age groups. A quarter of the panel watched The Love Guru.

The panel, which included three Hindus, viewed the film as a work of fiction and came to a unanimous conclusion: 'It does not denigrate any religion.'

The film opened in the United States on June 20. It was rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, some comic violence and drug references.

It received a critical drubbing with an approval rating of 15 per cent on the entertainment website rottentomatoes.com.

The US$62 million (S$84 million) comedy was also a box-office disappointment, earning only US$25 million in two weeks.

Panel chairman Vijay Chandran, a lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Film and Media Studies, said of the fuss: 'We thought it was much ado about nothing.'

The movie opens here on Sept 4.