Las Vegas lies in ruins. Burj Khalifa has been uprooted and rudely thrown back at earth. London and Singapore have been reduced to rubble. Petronas Towers have been destroyed.
Only India and its landmarks continue to stand straight in the face of an unprecedented alien attack. You know what is our superpower? Our ability to take offence.
According to a Mumbai Mirror report, 20th Century Fox – the makers of Independence Day Resurgence – decided not to show any part of India or its historical monuments being destroyed in the film. Their reason, and we quote, being “Well, Indians are too touchy. Keeping the sensitivities of all the religious groups and other activists in mind, the makers were asked to not shoot in India or portray any prominent monuments being damaged.”
The report quotes a source from the production house saying, “There was also a request to only represent India on one of the film’s posters, by showing an attack on the Taj Mahal. But this too was rejected.” The film arrives June 24.
Maybe, the studio backing the Roland Emmerich film — starring Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Vivica Fox — decided not to mess with the wrong country keeping Pixels in mind. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had reportedly asked the production house backing the Adam Sandler movie to exclude the clip that shows the Taj Mahal being destroyed from the promo. An insider said at that time, “Originally, the film had scenes that showed many monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Houses of London, and so on, being destroyed. However, the final cut of the film featured the Taj Mahal scene.”
The scenes were later taken off. Earlier, Pixels’ director Chris Columbus had said about destroying the Taj: “It is the first real iconic thing to get destroyed in the film. There is a destruction scene prior to that but with Taj Mahal, you see that it is actually a game breakout. I had this visual image while designing these effects. It had nothing to do whether it was India or anywhere else. I just thought it will look really cool and awesome,” he had said. That is, till India took offence.
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