The Da Vinci Code was on Thursday (May 18) cleared by the India’s film censor board without any cuts and will be screened only for adult audiences with disclaimers meant to assuage Christian groups that had opposed its release.
The censor clearance came after Christian leaders, who watched the movie with India’s Broadcasting Minister Dasmunsi on Thursday, suggested that “strong and lingering disclaimers” describing it as a work of pure fiction with “no resemblance to historical truth” be inserted at its beginning and end.
They also demanded it should be given an adults-only certification as it was only meant for grown-ups who could distinguish between fact and fiction.
The government had earlier held up the movie’s screening after nearly 300 Christian groups submitted representations opposing it.
Peter Travers review appears in the Rolling Stone: “There’s no code to decipher. Da Vinci is a dud — a dreary, droning, dull-witted adaptation of Dan Brown’s religioso detective story that sold 50 million copies worldwide.
“Conservative elements in the Catholic Church are all worked up over a plot that questions Christ’s divinity and posits a Vatican conspiracy to cover up Jesus Christ’s alleged marriage to Mary Magdalene and to drive all things feminine from the church. Here’s the sure way to quiet the protesters: Have them see the movie. They will fall into a stupor in minutes. I know it bored me breathless…”
Jerry Cobb, Reporter, writes in CNBC website “Hollywood has high hopes for ‘Da Vinci Code’. But early reviews don’t bode well for Sony’s blockbuster ambitions.
“Early reviews from the Cannes Film Festival are not encouraging. The Da Vinci Code was supposed to make a big bang with its worldwide premiere here in the U.S. Instead, it’s more like a whimper.”
“It’s not suspenseful, it’s not romantic, it’s certainly not fun,â€? said Stephen Schaefer, a film critic for the Boston Herald. “It seems like you’re in there forever, and you’re just conscious of how hard everybody’s working to try to make sense out of something that’s basically perhaps unfilmable.”
And a Reuters report says: “First reviews for The Da Vinci Code may be mostly scathing, but box office experts say they expect the Mona Lisa to keep smiling all the way to the bank this weekend.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.