CBFC bans Unni Mukundan's Marco on TV; urges centre to block OTT streaming

Marco still

Unni Mukundan's Malayalam film Marco was released in theatres on December 2024. The film surprised at the box office attracting not just Kerala audience but across India. The film performed extremely well at the box office in India and globally putting lead actor Unni in the spotlight. The film was made available on streaming platform Sony LIV last month. However, now the film has landed in trouble with CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) banning its TV premiere. The regional officer at CBFC urged the intervention of centre in blocking the OTT streaming of the film. Nadeem Thufali T, the regional office of CBFC, has written a letter to the CBFC chairperson and renowned lyricist Prasoon Joshi in this regard.

CBFC wants ban on Marco

This comes days after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan warned against the impact of films and TV shows in the state assembly amid rising crime of violence and murder in the state. The makers of Marco were supposed to release the uncut version on OTT. However, due to complaints against excessive violence portrayed in the film, the platform released only the theatrical version of the film.

The TV premiere of the film was banned by the censor board citing, "Marco has already been certified A by the CBFC. Parents should exercise caution when allowing children to watch such films. The CBFC's role is limited to certification and does not involve censorship. We have rejected the satellite rights for the movie Marco as it's not suitable for a family audience".

About Marco

The film revolves around Marco (played effortlessly by Unni Mukundan). He was an orphan who was adopted into the Adattu family. He is shown to be extremely loyal to the family and would go to any extent in serving and protecting them. The kids in the family know him as the devil but not the ones that they would be scared of. They call him devil for his physical prowess that he has displayed time and again in a bid to protect his near and dear ones. But when tragedy strikes in the film, Marco loses all cool and goes on a killing spree only to discover he has been played. The film revolves around two powerful families at loggerhead each trying their best to keep their near and dear ones alive.

The film is definitely not one for the soft hearted. There is a lot of blood on screen and as the film approaches the climax it only gets harsher with the innovative ways in which people on the screen get murdered. On the other hand, if you can stomach some gore and convince yourself that it is all prosthetics, then you might enjoy the stylised stunts and execution of the same.