Nani’s much-awaited The Paradise has cleared India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with an ‘A’ rating, just days ahead of its September 24, 2026 release. The board’s approval came through on September 21, running to roughly two hours and fifty minutes.
What CBFC Cut From The Paradise
The ‘A’ certificate arrives after the CBFC asked for a long list of changes. Among them: trimming ten scenes depicting torture and bloodshed, toning down a violent stabbing sequence, muting most instances of profanity (with one exception permitted), and muting three references to armed struggle against the country as well as one to a real-life assassination. The board also ordered the replacement of a shot showing a crow on the national flag, changes to imagery involving a pregnant woman, CGI coverage of a tattoo bearing offensive language, the removal of the phrase “denotified tribe,” and the censoring of a cigarette brand reference.
The makers have been upfront that the film isn’t meant for a general audience. “While the emotion of the film is for everyone… JADAL’s rawness is strictly for the adults,” the team said, referring to Nani’s central character.
The Paradise reunites Nani with director Srikanth Odela, following their 2023 hit Dasara. The film, produced by Sudhakar Cherukuri’s SLV Cinemas with Ishan Saksena co-producing, also stars Kayadu Lohar opposite Nani, alongside Mohan Babu, Raghav Juyal and Sampoornesh Babu. It releases simultaneously in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, English, Spanish, Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam.
Notably, the team has chosen not to release a theatrical trailer, betting instead on teasers and songs — including “Aaya Sher” and “Yeshanagula” — to build buzz, in order to save the full theatrical experience for the big screen.
BalleBolly’s take: The sheer length of the CBFC’s cut list — ten torture and bloodshed scenes, muted political references, an altered national-flag shot — reads less like a red flag and more like a marketing gift three days before release. Odela built his name on Dasara by refusing to soften Telangana’s rougher edges, and every reported cut here (armed struggle, a real assassination, a “denotified tribe” line) suggests The Paradise is aiming for that same rawness on a bigger canvas. Skipping the trailer entirely, while leaning on an ‘A’ certificate as its loudest pre-release signal, is a bet that word-of-mouth
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