India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) made extensive cuts to the original Kannada version of the action film Toxic, starring Yash, according to Bollywood Hungama’s reporting.
The censor board required several categories of modifications before approving the film with an ‘A’ certificate on August 13. Makers were instructed to add disclaimers with voiceover warnings about the film’s content, including anti-smoking and anti-drug caution messages displayed with white backgrounds and black fonts.
Language changes included replacing the word “motherf****r” in two subtitle locations and “f**king” in 16 places throughout the film. A sentence containing explicit sexual language was muted entirely.
Visual cuts were more extensive. Intimate scenes were reduced by 30% across seven separate locations. A scene between the character Raaya and a woman on a bed was cut by 50%, totaling 33 seconds of removed violent and sexual content. Shots depicting a child committing murder and another violent act were shortened. A scene showing a character smoking cannabis and one depicting a murder by electric saw were replaced with “appropriate” shots. A scene of a Christian Father covered in blood was reduced, and a Holy Cross was removed from a scene featuring assassins dressed as nuns.
The certified Kannada version runs 194 minutes and 12 seconds—3 hours, 14 minutes, and 12 seconds total.
According to a source cited by Bollywood Hungama, the dubbed Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam versions incorporated these same changes before submission for certification. Because the modifications were made before those dubbed versions were officially reviewed, their individual cut lists do not separately itemize the changes. However, the dubbed versions are not free of cuts, particularly regarding visual modifications, the source indicated.
Key facts
- The CBFC reduced intimate scenes by 30% across 7 locations in Toxic’s original Kannada version
- 33 seconds of violent and sexual content were removed from the film
- The film was certified with an ‘A’ certificate on August 13 and runs 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 12 seconds
- Profanity including “f**king” (16 instances) and “motherf****r” (2 instances) were removed or replaced
- Dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam incorporated the same cuts before certification