KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has confirmed that police advised against the inclusion of certain scenes from the Tamil blockbuster Kabali.
He said Bukit Aman had given its input on some scenes in the Tamil movie starring superstar Rajinikanth, which led to an alternate ending to the movie.
“Yes. We gave advice on parts of the movie that were shot here,” he said when commenting on a Malay Mail report yesterday that police had a say in the deletion of certain parts of the movie largely shot here.
As a result, Malaysians also missed out on three other parts deemed unsuitable for viewers.
Film Censorship Board chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid said it was a normal practice to have police input in movies that had violence, gangsterism and derogatory elements.
“We normally have our own police advisory unit in the censorship board too. For certain movies that we feel need extra input from Bukit Aman, we will call them in for viewing too,” he said.
“The final say, however, would be from us.” he added.
Yesterday, Malay Mail revealed why Malaysia had a different ending to the movie and that parts had been deleted as police had felt the scenes would encourage gangsterism.
The movie screened here ends with the words “Finally, Kabali surrendered to police” on a black screen.
In the original ending, Tiger, a character played by Tamil actor Hari, is shown being dragged out of a lockup by a policeman who gives him a gun to shoot Kabali.
He then walks into a cafe and goes up to Kabali, a role played by Rajinikanth, before the screen turns black and a gunshot is heard against the sound of the crowd shouting.
It was not clear if Kabali survives.
Another scene that was deleted showed Kabali welcomed by Malaysian police at the airport.
This was removed by the censorship board after Bukit Aman said police could not be seen as welcoming a gangster.
There was another 18-second scene where a gangster named Jeeva, one of Kabali’s gang members, is murdered in a brutal manner by rival members headed by Tony Lee.
He is thrown from the second floor of a flat after his hands are chopped off with a parang.
Bottles are also thrown on his body from the second floor. The scene was deemed disturbing for children.
A six-second dialogue was also deleted after a student tells Kabali that Indians despite passing with flying colours in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia enjoyed fewer opportunities in the country.
In the dialogue which was removed, she referred to the race-based quota practised in the education system here.
Dialogue in the movie was also scrutinised by the censorship board with film makers having to mute several derogatory terms and expletives used against the Malays, Chinese and Indians.
Malik Streams Corporation Sdn Bhd chief executive officer, Datuk Abdul Malik Dasthigeer, had said the company had applied for P13 rating and, as such, the scenes had to be deleted as per guidelines set by the Film Censorship Board.
He had said the company, which is the official distributor of the movie in Malaysia, had wanted the P13 rating — materials that may be inappropriate for children under 13 years and required parental guidance for viewing — instead of it being rated “18” to cater to “a larger audience”.
Those below the age of 18 are not allowed to watch movies rated “18”.
“The parts censored were three minutes in total. The movie’s storyline remains intact,” Malik had said.
The dubbed Malay version, which will be released on Friday, will also be rated P13.
Abdul Halim had also said that the board had asked for the alteration to include a moral lesson that crime did not pay.
“Under our guidelines, there must be some kind of element of retribution in the movie, especially if the characters shown in the movies are involved in crime,” he said.
“So, we asked the producer to put in a caption … this was to send a message the law cannot be taken into your own hands.”
Directed by Pa. Rajinth, the film features superstar Rajinikanth as the titular character, a gangster who was framed for a crime decades ago.
