Phule X Review: CBFC Cuts Make Pratik Gandhi And Patralekhaa Starrer 'Useless', 'Boring'

Phule X Review: Based on the lives of social reformers Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, Phule hit the big screens on April 25 amid controversy surrounding its anti-Brahmin narrative. The film was asked to undergo several cuts, and now, as the film is playing in cinema halls, its edits have become an issue for the viewers. Many shared that it robs the film of its essence and renders it "useless".

What are netizens saying about Phule?

Phule was an important film about the rights of the oppressed. However, some of the scenes were left ineffective due to editing. Earlier, the CBFC had asked certain changes to be made in the film after opposition from the Brahmin community. Terms such as ‘Mang’, ‘Mahar’ and ‘Peshwai’ were removed, the visual of ‘man carrying a broom’ was to be replaced with ‘boys throwing cow dung balls at Savitribai’, and the line ‘3000 saal purani gulami’ to be modified as ‘Kai saal purani’, among a few other things.

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These have had a big impact on the storytelling and the idea that director Ananth Mahadevan was trying to convey, many viewers remarked. Others called it an "inspiring" and an "important" film of our times, while some dubbed it "boring".

Many agreed that the film's leading cast - Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa - and the supporting actors like Alexx O'Nell and Richard Bhakti Klein as the Britishers, Joy Sengupta and Amit Behl as upper-caste priests shouldered the film well and delivered in the high points of the movie.

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Phule has been released in limited screens in India. Set in the 19th century but still relevant, Phule aims to be a thought-provoking narrative on casteism and the alienation of the other in Indian society.