Maatrubhumi Is Still Waiting for the Censor Board, and Salman Khan's War Film Wants November 13

Photo: Geet Arts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here is where Salman Khan's Maatrubhumi stands as of this week: the Information and Broadcasting ministry has cleared it after revisions, the makers applied for censor certification at the start of October, and the CBFC has still not scheduled a screening. A screening that was supposed to happen on October 26 did not. Trade reports say November 13 is the target, chosen to stay clear of Eetha in early December and Yeh Prem Mol Liya on November 27.

Photo: Shrinivaskulkarni1388, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The film used to be called Battle of Galwan, after the 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh, and the title change to Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace happened during the clearance process. Apoorva Lakhia directs. Chitrangda Singh is the female lead. The original date was April 17, and it has been a rolling set of rumours since then, with August, November and 2027 all floated and none confirmed.

Photo: Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The production house has denied earlier reports that the certificate was being held up, and a Gulf News piece from a few weeks ago, citing Variety India, said the film was still in post-production and had not even been submitted. That conflicts with the newer reports. Something is clearly going on, and when a studio and the trade press cannot agree on whether a film has been sent to the censor, it usually means the cut is still moving.

Photo: US Army Headquarters, Survey company, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I think a war film about a real, recent, politically live confrontation was always going to be slow through the system. The question for the box office is whether November 13 holds. If it does, Maatrubhumi lands a week after Ramayana's opening, which is either a smart counter-programme for an older male audience or a film walking into a wall.

Photo: That Girl Over There, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Salman has not had a clean hit since Tiger 3, and Sikandar was a disappointment. Do you think a war film is the comeback, or has that genre already been done to death this year?