CENSOR
(Starring Dev Anand, Govinda, Rekha, Jackie Shroff, Shammi Kapoor)

RATING:
*****
There are some films that Bollywood fanatics around the world eagerly anticipate, maybe because it has a hot director, fantastic cast and addictive music. Unfortunately, Dev Anand's 'Censor' is not one of these films.

Somewhere along the lines, people have started distrusting Dev Anand films, which is obviously because we cannot remember the last time he directed a hit movie. Lets not forget that when his last film had its world-wide premiere in London, the VIP audience openly laughed at the film rather than with the film.

Luckily for the main man himself, Mr Anand tells us that box office performance is not something that he worries about. If the film is a hit, then that's great. If it's not, then better luck next time.

Well, to try and help its prospects at the box office, Dev Anand has asked a host of stars from the film industry to make guest appearances throughout the movie. This is why 'Censor' has a star cast that would put most big budget blockbusters to shame. There is, of course, Dev Anand as the lead character, but joining him are the likes of Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Rekha, Hema Malini, Pooja Batra, Mamta Kulkarni, Raj Babbar, Amrish Puri, Shammi Kapoor, Aruna Irani, Mukel Dev, Sharad Kapoor, Johnny Lever…the list goes one and on!

As the title suggests, the film deals with Bollywood and those who are in charge of censoring Indian films. To be more precise, it's about the struggle a filmmaker (Dev Anand) occurs when his movie gets stuck at the censors and risks never being released.

Luckily for the filmmaker, he meets an influential member of the Academy Awards Committee. She believes the movie is a masterpiece and has the potential to win heaps of awards. Dev Anand is obviously happy with this opinion and swiftly smuggles the prints of the film to the US, where (as predicted) it goes on to win two Oscars! Hurray! But is this enough to make the Indian censors think twice about the way they review films?

Interestingly, the film has had a few cuts made after the censor board didn't agree with some scenes - probably the ones featuring them! However Dev Anand has agreed to them because he just wanted the film to hit the big screen. But was it really worth it?

The film is boring and it's unlikely that the public will be very interested in a film about censorship. The appearance of all those celebrities does help make the movie slightly more enjoyable, because you can play 'spot the star' when the movie drags along like it does.

On a more positive note, this direction in this movie is an improvement on Dev Anand's last film 'Main Solah Baras Ki' - but that's not exactly difficult (I'm sure those who watched it will agree with me). The music is nothing to talk about, and hasn't been setting the charts on fire either. Dev Anand's performance is quite good, although we already know that the man is a natural.

Sorry Mr Anand, we tried to like it, but we didn't. Never mind, maybe next time?

RELEASE DATE: 4th April 2001