'Fahrenheit 9/11' stuck at censors

'Fahrenheit 9/11', a documentary film on US President George W Bush in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, is still awaiting clearance by the Censor Board in India.

The film by Oscar-winning film maker Michael Moore looks into the reasons why Bush and his inner circle avoided pursuing the Saudi connection to the September 11 tragedy that rocked the United States.

"We were planning to release the film on October 15 in India and had sent the movie to the Censor Board, however, we were orally informed that the film has been referred to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, " a Paramount Films spokesman, which is handling the release of the film in India, said.

"They have not so far stated the exact reasons or objections to the film, hence, we are still waiting for communication from the ministry", he said. However, according to the regional officer of the Censor Board, Y N Engineer, "The film has not been sent for referral to the ministry but has been kept aside for review again by a revising committee."

"The film is controversial in nature and hence we want it to be reviewed again. We are just being very cautious about it", he said.

According to the spokesman, "Fahrenheit 9/11 shows a nation kept in constant fear by the FBI alerts and lulled into accepting a piece of legislation, the USA Patriot Act, that infringes on basic civil rights."

"It is in this atmosphere of confusion, suspicion and dread that the Bush administration makes its headlong rush towards war in Iraq; and the film takes the viewer inside the war to tell stories, not heard, illustrating the awful human loss to US soldiers and their families", he said.

Incidentally, the film is in its 14th week of screening in the US. The film had been screened in around 2000 cinema houses in the US and had not faced any censor problems in any of the countries across the globe so far, including Malaysia, where the censor rules were among the toughest, he said.

The film had been released in June 25 in USA. The movie was slated for release in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune on October 15, and later in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.