Kay Benedict

New Delhi: Shekhar Kapur’s controversial film Elizabeth – The Golden Age has gone the way of Da Vinci Code. Despite prot-ests from the Catholic Church, it will be released in India on Friday without any cuts, but with a ‘disclaimer’.

Church leaders grudgingly agreed to the release with a disclaimer — that the movie with an ‘Adult’ certification was an interpretation of history, which is subject to diverse views.

The movie has already been released in the US, UK and Canada.

On Wednesday, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) secretary general Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes had shot off a letter to Central Censor Board of India chairperson Sharmila Tagore seeking deletion of parts they found objectionable.

“We had also demanded  a disclaimer like in the case of Da Vinci Code that the film is based on fiction,” said CBCI spokesperson Father Babu Joseph. He reiterated the charge that “the film portrayed the Pope, bishops and the Catholic Church in a poor light….like perpetrators of all kinds of crime.” Father Joseph said “interpretation of history can be done in several way…this is not certainly THE history.”

The Catholic Church also feels that the film is blatantly pro-Protestant and that it would further accentuate the Catholic-Protestant divide.

Church sources said the distributors confirmed the disclaimer had been inserted in a communication to Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum general secretary Joseph Dias on Thursday. On Wednesday Paramount Films arranged a screening of the film for CSF representatives and other Church functionaries.

The Church is not happy with the ‘disclaimer’ though.  “The disclaimer is a joke. What is the use of a disclaimer after showing all that is objectionable?  The ideal thing is not produce such films,” said Dias.

Last week, in a notice to Paramount Films, the CSF had threatened to seek police action under Sec 153A of IPC - promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and indulging in acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and under  Sec 295A  for committing  deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.