Filmmaker VC Abhilash has strongly criticized Marco, directed by Haneef Adeni and starring Unni Mukundan, for its intense depiction of violence. Sharing his thoughts in a Facebook post, Abhilash stated that watching the film’s second half made him question the mental state of both its creators and audience.
Abhilash mentioned that he initially watched only the first half of Marco in theaters but later completed it after a friend told him, “there’s no violence like this one.” Expressing his concerns, he wrote, “I would like to ask those who made this anti-social work and those who praised it to examine their own mental state. ‘Why did you agree to watch this?’ ‘Didn’t it succeed in the theatre?’ Beyond the questions, for the audience in me, this product is a dark chapter in the history of Indian cinema and a big social crime.”
Comparing Marco‘s violent content to even the most intense Korean films, Abhilash pointed out scenes involving a child, a pregnant woman, and an unborn baby. “Even if we argue that all this is normal in this society, the only result that Marco produces is sadism,” he wrote. While clarifying that he appreciates crime-thriller films, he warned that “because of works like Marco, the ‘interference’ of the censor board will be greater than it is now. The natural changes that occur in the storyline of films, even crime scenes will be questioned tomorrow.”
Predicting that the filmmakers would soon attempt to justify the movie, Abhilash added, “By then, this poisonous offspring labeled as art will have given energy to the baseless interpretation that cinema is the cause of all the evils in the country! If tomorrow someone takes a film that supports pedophilia, can we interpret it as art and give permission to show it?” He concluded by urging society and the film industry to “reject this poisonous snake.”
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) granted Marco an ‘A’ certificate for its theatrical release but denied the producers’ request to reclassify it as ‘UA’ for TV. The film, which was released in theaters on December 20, is currently streaming on SonyLIV.
CBFC regional officer T Nadeem Thufali emphasized the importance of parental supervision, stating, “Parents should be vigilant to ensure that children do not watch movies with extreme violence.” He also confirmed that the CBFC had recommended to the government that the film be banned from streaming platforms. However, he acknowledged, “CBFC has no regulatory powers on OTT streaming.”
Meanwhile, Marco’s producer, Shareef Mohammed, defended the film, asserting, “It is not cinema that should change, but our perspective.” While acknowledging concerns about violent content, he added, “I will not make any film that apparently promotes violence from here on.”