In a rare post-certification twist, Bhooth Bangla was not done with edits even after clearing the CBFC. The Akshay Kumar starrer returned to the board after certification and underwent 63 additional trims, an unusual last-leg move that has now shaved more than 10 minutes off the film just days before its theatrical rollout.
That has made the Priyadarshan-directed horror comedy one of the more closely watched Hindi releases heading into the week, especially because the latest revisions came after the film had already completed the formal censor process. What began as a standard certification exercise has now ended with a significantly shorter final cut.
What Changed In The CBFC Process
Bhooth Bangla was awarded a U/A 16+ certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification. During the initial examination, the board directed the team to replace an obscene word at the 26-minute mark, modify another set of obscene words around an hour into the film, and remove an obscene word from the subtitle toward the end.
The CBFC also asked for a denigrating reference to women in the first half to be replaced. In addition, the makers were instructed to add disclaimers linked to the film’s religious and superstitious references. After complying with these changes, the film received its censor certificate on April 2.
At that stage, the certified runtime stood at 174 minutes and 57 seconds, which translates to 2 hours, 54 minutes and 57 seconds.
Fresh Cuts Bring Down The Runtime
But the bigger revision came after certification was already in place. The makers approached the CBFC again after carrying out voluntary cuts, and those changes were accepted on April 11, turning what had been a completed censor formality into a second round of fine-tuning.
In total, 63 scenes were trimmed. Several cuts were only a second or a few seconds long, but one deletion from the song O Sundari ran as long as 72 seconds. Another 27 seconds were removed from O Re O Sawariya.
That exercise brought down the total duration by 10 minutes and 5 seconds. The revised runtime now stands at 164 minutes and 52 seconds, or 2 hours, 44 minutes and 52 seconds.
Why The Priyadarshan Reunion Is Drawing Attention
The censorship trail has only added to the curiosity around Bhooth Bangla, which marks another collaboration between Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar, a filmmaker-actor pairing strongly associated with mainstream comic entertainers. This time, they are returning with a horror comedy mounted around a mysterious mansion and an ensemble that includes Tabu, Wamiqa Gabbi, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Jisshu Sengupta, Manoj Joshi, Mithila Palkar and Rajesh Sharma.
With paid previews lined up for April 16 and the full theatrical release scheduled for April 17, the tighter cut could now play a key role in how the film lands with audiences. After moving from mandated word replacements and disclaimer additions to a fresh batch of voluntary trims, Bhooth Bangla heads into release with a final version that is leaner, cleaner and suddenly far more intriguing than a routine censor update would usually suggest.
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