Zareen Khan-Anshuman Jha ‘Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele’ gets U/A certificate

The Anshuman Jha and Zareen Khan starrer Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele has received a U/A certificate, and is now scheduled to release in 2021. The film was certified without cuts by the revising committee of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Harish Vyas’s Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele explores friendship between a gay man and a lesbian woman on a road trip. The film was in limbo for long after the original screening committee gave it ‘A’ certification after a screening in February. The film then got stuck due to the pandemic.

After the adults-only certificate from the original committee, producers First Ray Films had applied for a revising committee screening. The revising committee has now granted a U/A certificate without any cuts.

“I believe in making films for the family, and on human relationships. We were surprised with the original verdict of ‘A’ certification because there is absolutely nothing offensive or derogatory in the film. We have mature audiences and homosexuality is legal in India, so the topic should never be the reason for censoring. I am grateful that the revising Committee has given our film a green light and that it will finally be it with the audience in 2021,” said Vyas.

A statement from the production house said: “We have made a clean-joyous film on friendship – there is no sexuality, not even a peck on the cheek but we were told that we will be given an ‘A’ certificate only because of the topic of the film. The protagonists happen to be from the LGBTQ+ community. When the fact is previously films with similar topics have been given a U/A.”

The film has done the rounds of the festival circuit. The story is about a gay man, Veer (Anshuman), and a lesbian woman Mansi (Zareen), and their road trip from Delhi to McLeod Ganj, and how they are forced to become friends.