Paper Title
British Censorship of Indian Cinema and Patriotic Overtones: A Study of Colonial Era

Abstract
Indian cinema began its journey during the oppressive colonial rule. Just like other industries, it was not given any kind of encouragement during that time. Moreover, the arbitrary and politically inspired censorship machinery of British Raj throttled any portrayals of democratic ideas and revolutionary spirit in the films. Many times, Indian filmmakers resorted to the use of allegory and metaphor to convey the desired meanings. The British government enacted Indian Cinematograph Act (1918) to bring cinema under its control by instituting the censorship system in the provinces. The use of cinema for political propaganda by the nationalists and the realization of potentiality of cinema by the British both led to strict censorship by the colonialists. An analysis of the themes and ideas which were censored, excised and banned, provide information about the norms of censorship. These norms, which were guided by political exigencies and colonial interests, reveal quite explicitly, the ideas looked up on as the threats to their empire. These were nationalist aspirations, political overtones, revolutionary ideas from Russia and democratic ideas from America. The films of this period exhibit undercurrents of patriotism, zeal for social reform, advocacy of democracy, peasant and industrial concerns and desire to attain independence, directly or indirectly, in one form or another. Keywords- Indian Cinema, Censorship, Patriotic, Colonial.