TV screening of ‘The Danish Girl’ cancelled in India

Mumbai, March 26 (IANS) A scheduled telecast of Hollywood film "The Danish Girl" -- which tells the story of Lili Elbe, one of the first people who came out and went for gender reassignment surgery -- has been cancelled, channel Sony Le PLEX HD has announced.

According to a source in the know of developments, the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) objected to the film due to its sensitive storyline.

"The movie went to CBFC for clearance three months ago and they were sitting on it. And now they have cancelled the broadcast citing that the issue is very sensitive... CBFC has put a ban across channels, and now no other channel can also show the film," the source told IANS on condition of anonymity.

"The Danish Girl" was scheduled to be telecast on Sunday night on Sony Le PLEX HD, but a post from the channel's official Twitter handle gave out the news that it has been cancelled.

The post read: "We regret to inform that Sony Le Plex HD is unable to telecast the much awaited television premiere of the internationally acclaimed award-winning film 'The Danish Girl' on March 26 as the necessary certification to enable telecast of the movie has not been received.

"We continue making all necessary efforts to secure the certification and will keep you informed of the future date of telecast. We thank you for your continuous support and understanding. Any inconvenience caused is regretted."

The Tom Hooper directorial is based on American author David Ebershoff's debut novel with the same name. With stars like Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne as leads, the film talks about various emotions that Lili Elbe go through in the journey to find sexual identity.

The film, which released theatrically in India last year, had hit the right note with critical acclaim as well as a nod from The Academy in form of multiple Oscar nominations. Vikander won an Oscar in Best Supporting Actress category in 2016 for the film.

In an interview to IANS, Ebershoff had also said there is still a long way to go to erase the stigmas around transgenders and their position.

"If we see around 90 years ago or a century ago, it is remarkable when you think about today and how it feels for transgenders to express who they are and how they are meant to be.

"It has been a very difficult journey. Think of Lili, almost a 100 years ago, she chose a path for her, to tell the world who she was with no language to rely on or no role model to look up to... And yet when we think about it, there is so much progress to be made. It is a challenging experience for many people and there are many hurdles."