Top 9 films banned in India

Here a list of Bollywood films that were banned in India:

1. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996): The film was made on the ancient Hindu text 'Kama Sutra' which was written by Vatsyayana. Though the film was made on ancient Hindu literature, ironically, the film was banned in India due to its sexual content.

2. Fifty Shades of Grey (2015): Just as 'Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love', the film was banned in India for its explicit sexual content. The Indian Censor board did not give any rating to the film, inspite of various cuts which were made.

3. Bandit Queen (1994): The film was a biographical film which was made on the life of Phoolan Devi. The film was banned when Phoolan Devi herself questioned the authenticity of facts. The film was premiered in Cannes Film Festival and was screened at Edinburgh Film Festival.

4. Black Friday (2004): The film was made on the 1993 bomb blasts and was based on the book 'Black Friday- The True Story of the Bombay Blasts' by Hussain Zaidi. The film was controversial and moreover the verdict of the 1993 bomb blasts was still pending that the censor board decided to ban the film. 

5. Fire (1996): This was the first mainstream film in Indian cinema which explicitly depicted homosexual relationship. The release of the film was followed by various controversies and protests which led censor board to ban the film.

6. Water (2005): The film was the last part of Element's trilogy after 'Fire' and 'Water'. Prior to the days of the film's shoot, there were protests and the film's sets were destroyed in the year 2000. The UP government decided to stop the shoot whereas, Arun Pathak, a human activist, organised a suicide protest to stop the production. The film was later released in 2007.

7. Hava Aane de (2004): The film was made about the growing tension between India and Pakistan. The film was never released in India as the censor board banned the film when the director didn't accept the cuts as suggested by the board.

8. Kissa Kursi ka (1977): The film based around the Indian politics and was termed as a political spoof. The film was banned by the censor board. All the master prints and the copies of the film were burnt down by Sanjay Gandhi's supporters.

9. Paanch (2013): Paanch is an unreleased film which was directed by Anurag Kashyap. The film was objected by the censor board as the film revolved around drugs, sex and violence.