Rajkummar Rao starrer Omerta was set to release on 20th April in India but it has been delayed by two weeks now & will release on 4th May instead. Reports suggest that the delay was caused as the film was waiting to be cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification. Hansal Mehta went on to explain the entire reason behind the delay & it’s a good one:
We knew that it wouldn’t be a cake walk with the Censor Board given that the film has a fair bit of violence and strong language. We didn’t want cuts that would take away from the essence of the film, so we had to wait. The Censor Board chief and members of the revising committee understood how certain scenes could not be removed since they are essential for audiences to understand how a terrorist’s mind works. Hence the wait and that’s why a decision has been taken to release Omerta on May 4.
The gritty and gruesome thriller received an ‘A’ certificate but we’re glad it hasn’t faced any cuts whatsoever. Here’s what producer Nahid Khan was quoted saying:
The team was waiting for CBFC’s clearance for the film. We’re happy to announce 4 May as the release date for Omertà. We know audiences are eagerly awaiting the film’s release. It’s just a small change of two weeks. We don’t mind the delay as long as we have managed to keep the essence of the film intact.
Reportedly, the censor board did order the team to make one major edit to a scene. Furquan Khan revealed what it is:
We’ve been asked to remove the national anthem from that sequence and replace it with routine background music. We happily complied and walked away with an ‘A’ certificate which the film deserves.
Omerta is a biographical crime drama starring Rajkummar as Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, British terrorist of Pakistani descent. Talking to Indian Express Rajkummar revealed why Omerta was challenging for him:
I think it (Omerta) was even more difficult than Trapped. That film was physically taxing but this one mentally shook me up. I was exploring the world which I had no idea about. I was exploring dark roots and secrets about that world and I was very disturbed while shooting for it because I had to play him for that. I had to believe in his ideologies and that was an extremely disturbing process. It is not something I really enjoyed doing.
Two weeks is not too long but we can wait to watch this one. Rajkummar does up the interest level given his past projects, doesn’t he?