The Voice of Hind Rajab to receive ‘A’ certificate, weeks after oral ban

The Voice of Hind Rajab, the critically acclaimed 2025 film on the killing of the eponymous Palestinian five-year old at Israeli forces’ hands, is on the brink of being cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with an ‘A’ certificate, official sources said. This development comes weeks after the Kaouther Ben Hania directorial was rejected by an Examining Committee for supposedly being detrimental to India–Israel relations.

The misgivings of the initial advisory panel drew censure from filmmakers, actors, activists and the Opposition. “The Indian authorities have shown that their idea of friendship is appeasement of the government of the day, to the point of censoring films bringing to light their most appalling crimes,” a letter from 90 such professionals said.

Manoj Nandwana, the film’s India distributor, was not available for immediate comment. In March, Mr. Nandwana told The Hindu that he suspected that the film would not receive a certificate since its release was blocked by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at several international film festivals. The Ministry clears films for film festivals in India following a process independent of the CBFC.

Members of Parliament from the Congress party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and the Samajwadi Party, among others, had written to I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw that month condemning the film’s ban, which was communicated to Mr. Nandwana orally.

Ms. Ben Hania did not immediately respond to an emailed query on the film being close to certification. “Is the honeymoon between the ‘world’s largest democracy’ and the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’ so fragile that a film could break it,” she had asked in a Facebook post shortly after news broke of the CBFC’s initial attitude to the film. After the outrage, senior officials had indicated that the film was now under review by a Revising Committee, as is standard practice for films rebuked by the first panel.

For the film to release, the CBFC will now have to issue the certificate on its website (a step that has not been completed yet), and hand over the certificate to Mr. Nandwana, who will make the ultimate decision on whether to distribute it to cinemas.