Soni Razdan’s No Fathers in Kashmir get U/A certificate from FCAT; CBFC’s approval pending

8 months, 6 screenings and 7 hearings later, the film No Fathers in Kashmir has finally got the U/A certification from FCAT, the apex body which governs the final matters of certifications of films in India. Directed by Oscar-nominated director Ashvin Kumar, the filmmaker has faced a lot of delays and had to screen the movie twice, the last being just about a month ago in Kashmir. The film was pushed ahead drastically when there were delays with regards to its certification which eventually led to a delay in the screening of the film in India. After challenging the CBFC decision to give the film an ‘A’ certification, which the maker found unjustified, on the basis of the content of their movie, they moved to FCAT first in November with a hearing in December, and again later in January.

Now after a month of its second screening, FCAT has given its final order on the film asking for a few changes, including some cuts and disclaimers. The root cause of the issue was the delay the film underwent, which was against the very rules of the CBFC who refused to see the film. Upon seeing the film, they delayed the verdict giving it an ‘A’ certification in October, despite the film not promoting nudity, hatred, violence, gore or similar adult-worthy subjects.

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“How does one make a film about hope when its subject rouses emotions like hate, fear and vengeance? This question haunted the six years it took to make this film.” – Ashvin Kumar. ' . . @nofathersinkashmir ’ (previously ‘Noor’), has been a film in making over the last six years. In this film, Oscar-nominated director Ashvin Kumar tells a coming-of-age story about innocence and the exuberance of being young and hopeful. After a year in development, the screenplay of the film was selected as one of eight projects for The Sundance Institute/Mumbai Mantra Lab 2014,. Under the mentorship of Oscar nominated screeen-writers Naomi Forner, Sooni Taraporewalla (The Namesake, Salaam Bombay), Ashvin went on to write over 43 drafts which finally became “No Fathers in Kashmir”. The script went on to win the Asia Pacific Screen Academy 2014 prestigious screenplay development award. #nofathersinkashmir #indiancinema #indianfilm #indiefilms #ashvinkumar #alipurfilms #kashmir #storytelling #lovestory #comingofage #younglove #filmmaking

A post shared by Ashvin Kumar (@ashvinkofficial) on Feb 11, 2019 at 7:58am PST

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Last year this time, The @nofathersinkashmir team was adding final edits to the film. From left to right: Co-producer, Sylvain Nahmias; Director, Ashvin Kumar; Sound designer, Steve Bond and Rerecording mixer, Bruno Mercère at Sledge Studios, Paris. #nofathersinkashmir #indiefilm #younglove #kashmir #comingofage

A post shared by Ashvin Kumar (@ashvinkofficial) on Feb 7, 2019 at 11:04pm PST

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Follow @nofathersinkashmir for updates. #nofathersinkashmir #censorship #ashvinkumar

A post shared by Ashvin Kumar (@ashvinkofficial) on Oct 10, 2018 at 1:43pm PDT

The film stars Soni Razdan, Anshuman Jha and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. It traces the love story of two young 16-year-olds in search of their fathers who have gone missing in the valley. The filmmaker is ecstatic with this latest development. Director Ashvin Kumar was previously an Oscar Nominee for his short, Little Terrorist and has even won two National Awards for his feature films Inshallah Football and Inshallah Kashmir.

Speaking about it, director Ashvin Kumar said, “10 years ago in my film Inshallah Football, I had warned that alienating the youth of Kashmir would have catastrophic consequences. Censorship of the truth about Kashmir has caused a crisis of compassion, amplifying misguided fears of ordinary Indians towards ordinary Kashmiris. Keeping the public away from information and truth is such a myopic policy – it only breeds more hostility when the need of the hour is empathy, leading to peace. Anyone who genuinely wants peace will understand that we must first stop censoring films that tell the truth about Kashmir.”