The Donald Trump origin story-based biopic The Apprentice faces a release limbo similar to Monkey Man in India. The critically acclaimed drama starring Avengers fame & upcoming Thunderbolts movie star Sebastian Stan was originally scheduled to release on October 18. Following its red carpet premiere in the country, news emerged that its release had been delayed due to a request from CBFC to remove two major explicit scenes.
It’s another day and another Hollywood flick has been prevented from releasing in India. The filmmaker behind The Apprentice movie Ali Abbasi denied complying with CBFC’s order to censor & remove sequences related to Ivanka Trump being sexually assaulted by Donald Trump.
Warning: The article contains spoilers for The Apprentice movie
Representing PursueNews, I was invited by PVRINOX Pictures for an uncut screening of The Apprentice in Bengaluru, India. While the Indian censor board did not request for an extensive cut, it appears the explicit nudity in the first act is part of the removal request.
“The CBFC requested for the deletion of nude scenes wherever they appear in the film. This was more than a minute-long content,” according to a source from the CBFC said to Mid-Day. The scene in question shows a Young Donald Trump attending Roy Cohn’s birthday party, the celebration quickly turns into a wild orgy fest and features multiple female frontal nudity as well as gay intercourse sequences also featuring Roy Cohn in the act.
Aside from the snipping of Roy Cohn’s gay sex sequence in The Apprentice, the censor board also requested to reduce 75 percent of a scene in the final act. It shows Trump forcefully engaging in sex with his wife Ivanka Trump. Furthermore, the use of the word ‘Negro’ was also part of the removal instructions.
It should be noted, that viewer discretion would be advised while watching the disturbing sequence of Ivanka being abused by Trump. The scene plays out for well over a minute showing his wife pinned to the ground. Surprisingly, CBFC has also asked the makers to provide information on the source material on which the scene was based on.
Hey man i was so excited about showing the movie but your censorship board wants fo recut my movie and its super annoying I hope it gets resolved .
— Ali Abbasi (@_aliabbasi_) October 18, 2024
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Director Abbasi took to X to address his frustration over the censorship. He also addressed to a fan in India on X, who was hoping to see it on the big screen soon, “I was excited about showing the movie but your censorship board wants to recut my movie” noted Abbasi, “it’s super annoying I hope it gets resolved.”
PVRINOX Pictures shared an announcement post shortly after the October 17th screening confirming the delay but The Apprentice currently does not have a release date for India as of this writing.
