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EXCLUSIVE: CBFC replaces ‘Donald Trump’ with ‘Pump Trump’, ‘Dawood Ibrahim’ with ‘Pakistan Don’ in Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy

February 19, 2026 at 04:53 AM
By Bollywood Hungama
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After a long wait, Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy will finally be out tomorrow, that is, Friday, February 20. The acclaimed film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The same year, it was screened at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, that too in the sprawling Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. A month after this successful screening, the film received the censor certificate. In this article, Bollywood Hungama will focus on the cuts made to the neo-noir drama.The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) passed Kennedy with an ‘A’ certificate. However, the Examining Committee asked for a few cuts. To begin with, the word 'motherf*****' was muted in the dialogues as well as subtitles. The words 'Donald Trump' were replaced with 'Pump Trump'. The visuals of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, along with the dialogue 'Dawood Ibrahim ne...1993 mein' were deleted and replaced with the words 'Pakistan Don'.Then, in the first half, the scene with the degrading dialogue 'Matunga, Matunga...Pungi bajaao', lasting 14 seconds, was asked to be deleted. Lastly, the anti-smoking static message was asked to be displayed in all the smoking scenes.Once the changes were made, Kennedy was handed over a censor certificate on November 23, 2023. The length of the film, as mentioned on the censor certificate, is 148.54 minutes. In other words, Kennedy is 2 hours, 28 minutes and 54 seconds long.Kennedy stars Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone in the lead. It is set during the Covid era and tells the story of an ex-cop, who is presumed dead by the world, but is very much alive, doing the dirty work for the corrupt Mumbai commissioner while driving a luxury app-based cab in Mumbai.In December 2025, Kennedy became the only Indian film selected for the launch lineup of Letterboxd’s Video Store. The film was thus made available to netizens in 23 countries through the TVOD model. However, India didn’t feature in this list. Last month, in January 2026, it was announced that Kennedy would premiere on Zee5.Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Kennedy to FINALLY release; Sunny Leone, Anurag Kashyap, Rahul Bhat to launch trailer at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2026

Analysis & Context

After a long wait, Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy will finally be out tomorrow, that is, Friday, February 20. The acclaimed film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The same year, it was screened at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, that too in the sprawling Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. A month after this successful screening, the film received the censor certificate. In this article, Bollywood Hungama will focus on the cuts made to the neo-noir drama.The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) passed Kennedy with an ‘A’ certificate. However, the Examining Committee asked for a f This article provides comprehensive coverage and analysis of current events.
After a long wait, Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy will finally be out tomorrow, that is, Friday, February 20. The acclaimed film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The same year, it was screened at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, that too in the sprawling Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. A month after this successful screening, the film received the censor certificate. In this article, Bollywood Hungama will focus on the cuts made to the neo-noir drama.The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) passed Kennedy with an ‘A’ certificate. However, the Examining Committee asked for a few cuts. To begin with, the word 'motherf*****' was muted in the dialogues as well as subtitles. The words 'Donald Trump' were replaced with 'Pump Trump'. The visuals of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, along with the dialogue 'Dawood Ibrahim ne...1993 mein' were deleted and replaced with the words 'Pakistan Don'.Then, in the first half, the scene with the degrading dialogue 'Matunga, Matunga...Pungi bajaao', lasting 14 seconds, was asked to be deleted. Lastly, the anti-smoking static message was asked to be displayed in all the smoking scenes.Once the changes were made, Kennedy was handed over a censor certificate on November 23, 2023. The length of the film, as mentioned on the censor certificate, is 148.54 minutes. In other words, Kennedy is 2 hours, 28 minutes and 54 seconds long.Kennedy stars Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone in the lead. It is set during the Covid era and tells the story of an ex-cop, who is presumed dead by the world, but is very much alive, doing the dirty work for the corrupt Mumbai commissioner while driving a luxury app-based cab in Mumbai.In December 2025, Kennedy became the only Indian film selected for the launch lineup of Letterboxd’s Video Store. The film was thus made available to netizens in 23 countries through the TVOD model. However, India didn’t feature in this list. Last month, in January 2026, it was announced that Kennedy would premiere on Zee5.Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Kennedy to FINALLY release; Sunny Leone, Anurag Kashyap, Rahul Bhat to launch trailer at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2026

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