A Gentleman Kiss Halved? Directors 'Surprised By Stories'

New Delhi: A Gentleman featured in headlines over the weekend for reports stating that a prolonged kissing scene featuring lead actors Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez has provoked the Censor Board to take out its snipping tools and that the scene has reportedly been chopped by over half. Now, it appears none of that actually happened. The makers of A Gentleman - directors Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK - have dismissed such reports saying the speculation is "not true." News agency PTI reported one of the directors as saying: "I am surprised how the reports came up and who is telling such stories. I don't know why there is a big deal about kissing scenes. It is not cut. So the report is not true."
 

Iss film mein Action hai, Romance hai, Comedy hai aur iska trailer aaraha hai Monday 12 noon! Get set for #AGentleman with @Asli_Jacqueline pic.twitter.com/ceUS199FiE

— Sidharth Malhotra (@S1dharthM) July 8, 2017

Earlier, DNA quoted a source close to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as saying that the kissing sequence was considered unnecessarily lengthy - just like the ones in the last James Bond movie SPECTRE and Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. "The lead pair's kiss just went on and on unnecessarily, just like the smooch in the James Bond film and Ranbir Kapoor-Anushka Sharma in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. We've asked them to take it easy. The film is titled A Gentleman, but the hero seems to forget his manners while kissing," a source had told DNA.

The Censor Board was ruthlessly criticised for being 'sanskari' after it shortened two of Daniel Craig's kissing scenes from SPECTRE. Meanwhile, swear words have also reportedly been asked to be removed from A Gentleman, the DNA report stated.

Recently, the CBFC had suggested 48 cuts to Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Babumoshai Bandookbaaz which has finally been cleared for release with only eight edits, courtesy the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. In the past, movies like drug drama Udta Punjab and Lipstick Under My Burkha have contested CBFC's conservative demands and emerged victorious.

A Gentleman is Jacqueline Fernandez and Sidharth Malhotra's second film together after 2015's Brothers. It releases on August 25.