The 2015 James Bond film, Spectre, had run into a major controversy after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) played spoilsport or should we say, nanny. The then chairperson of the CBFC, Pahlaj Nihalani, reduced the kissing scene of the film to around 22 seconds. It got a lot of backlash from the fans as their favourite character was transformed from being sexy to being ‘Sanskaari’. #SanskaariJamesBond and #SanskaariCensorBoard trended for days and are two of the most memorable hashtags on social media in recent times.

Now as the next James Bond film, No Time To Die, is about to release, there were fears that once again, Agent 007 will have to go the ‘Sanskaari’ way. But in a pleasant turn of events, the CBFC this time has left the kissing scenes untouched.

A source told us, “No Time To Die has been passed with zero cuts. The film has some violence and also a few intimate scenes. But the CBFC this time did not ask for any reckless cuts. The studio was very happy that the CBFC examining committee understood the context of those scenes and didn’t make any unfair demands, unlike last time.”

No Time To Die was given the certificate on September 20 and has been passed with a U/A rating. The source said, “The film’s run time is 163 minutes, that is, 2 hours, 43 minutes. This makes No Time To Die the longest James Bond film ever. But if the film has enough entertainment and thrill, viewers won’t mind. The advance is encouraging and the film is set for a great opening.”

A few days back, Bollywood Hungama was the first to break the news that No Time To Die would be the first Bond film to be released in 3D. Starring Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux and Ana de Armas, it is also set to have a huge release in India as the total screen count is more than 1700.