Will Censor Board ask 7am Arivu to be re-certified? 

Here is an unexpected twist to the story... when some fans and protesters came to know that 7am Arivu's rerecording is now happening after the certification procedure was completed last week, they have decided to file a complaint with Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asking to re-certify 7am Arivu. Depending on how CBFC reacts to this request, we will know whether this will pose any challenges to the release of 7am Arivu.

Practice of changing background score after certification in Tamil movie industry

It is a common practice in Tamil Industry to send movies for censorship with dummy background music. The certification procedure is usually cleared before doing the official re-recording for movies so rest of the pre-release activities can start without delays. Even though the Censor Board maintains a "don't ask, don't tell' position on this issue, this is not officially encouraged by the Censor Board as per the rules of the book.

Certification board believes that the background music is very powerful in communicating a strong message to the viewers (for example, use of Koran verses in the background score had created censorship issues for 'Bombay'). Since any changes to the re-recording could alter the meaning of a scene and will require a review from certification board. If this is brought to their attention, they are expected to take necessary steps.

Addendum -- What did MovieCrow reporters find on this topic?

There are two things required to be verified in order for this to be true... what did the Censor board rule say on change of background score? and whether the background music actually altered. One thing that we could not verify is whether a formal complaint has been lodged at Censor Board. So, here is what our reporters found,

• As per section 33 of the CBFC rules regarding "Alteration of film after issue of certificate.-  (1) When a film is altered by excision, addition, colouring or otherwise after it has been certified under these rules, it shall not be exhibited unless the portion or portions excised, added, coloured or otherwise altered, have been reported to the Board.... Explanation II. - Any addition, deletion, alteration or replacement of background music in a film"

• As per the tweet made by a couple of 7am Arivu Unit members on Oct 17, it is indeed true that 7am Arivu is currently going through re-recording and background music

We will leave it up to the readers to make your own conclusion point...