Dhamaal 4 Cleared by CBFC With Changes Ahead of Release

Dhamaal 4 is back in the headlines — not for a trailer or a song drop, but for its censor certificate. Entertainment reports in Hindustan Times and Indian Express say the Ajay Devgn-led comedy has been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with changes, including modifications to certain gestures and words. On the surface, this is a modest procedural update: a film has secured its certificate, subject to edits. But for a franchise as widely tracked as Dhamaal, even a routine CBFC clearance becomes a talking point, and it is worth unpacking why.

What the certification update actually means

CBFC-mandated edits are a standard part of the Indian theatrical release process. Almost every major commercial release passes through some degree of back-and-forth with the board before a certificate is issued, and the changes reported here — adjustments to certain gestures and words — read as practical rather than controversial. This is not a case of a film being sent back for a full re-cut or facing demands for the excision of a scene central to its plot. It is the more familiar pattern of a board flagging specific moments that it considers unsuitable in their original form, and a production agreeing to modify them so the certificate can be granted.

For the makers of Dhamaal 4, this clearance — even with tweaks — is the milestone that matters most at this stage. It effectively removes the single largest source of uncertainty hanging over any big-ticket release: whether the film will get to theatres on schedule at all. Once a certificate is in hand, a studio can lock its release date with confidence, finalise its marketing calendar, and commit to the print and advertising spend that a wide release demands. In that sense, the CBFC clearance is less a story about content and more a story about scheduling certainty.

Why small cuts still draw outsized attention

For a broad comedy franchise, though, even minor edits attract scrutiny that a drama or a thriller might not. The Dhamaal films have built their identity on irreverent, crowd-pleasing humour — broad gags, physical comedy, and dialogue that leans on exaggeration for effect. Because that is precisely the register in which "gestures and words" tend to be flagged, fans are naturally curious about what has been softened and whether it will change the texture of the humour they are expecting. This is less about outrage and more about anticipation: audiences who have followed the series for years want to know if the version they eventually watch will feel like a continuation of the tone set by its predecessors.

It is worth noting that this kind of curiosity is common to nearly every comedy that goes through CBFC review, not unique to Dhamaal 4. The genre's reliance on exaggerated behaviour and colloquial language means it sits closer to the board's areas of scrutiny than more restrained genres. That does not mean the edits reported here indicate anything unusual about the film's content — only that comedies, by their nature, generate more of this kind of pre-release chatter around certification.

A franchise with built-in recall

Dhamaal 4 does not have to build audience awareness from scratch. It arrives with substantial memory from earlier instalments in the franchise and an ensemble cast led by Ajay Devgn and Riteish Deshmukh, both established names in Hindi commercial cinema with long track records in the comedy space. That familiarity is a significant asset: it means promotional beats do not need to introduce the concept or the leads to audiences, only to signal that the fourth chapter is on its way.

Adding to the pre-release conversation has been Ravi Kishan's recent public confidence in the comedy genre, which has helped keep the title's search interest high even in the gaps between official studio announcements. This is a pattern increasingly visible across Bollywood: cast members speaking publicly about a genre or a project, even informally, can sustain online interest between scheduled promotional milestones such as trailer drops or poster reveals. For a franchise like Dhamaal, which does not need to reintroduce itself to its audience, this kind of ambient conversation does useful work in keeping the title visible.

The CBFC stamp as an unofficial marketing event

What this episode illustrates most clearly is how the CBFC certification process has quietly become a marketing event in its own right. Trade watchers and entertainment journalists now routinely parse every reported cut for clues about a film's tone, its likely runtime, and its readiness for release. A certificate with changes is read as a signal that a film is close to locking its date; a certificate granted without any changes is read as evidence of a comparatively "clean" script. Either way, the certification news cycle has become something studios can lean on, often amplifying it rather than downplaying it, because it keeps a title in headlines without requiring any additional promotional spend.

This shift matters because it changes the incentives around how certification news is reported and received. Where CBFC updates were once treated purely as bureaucratic footnotes, they are now woven into the broader promotional arc of a film's release. Audiences, in turn, have grown accustomed to treating certification news as one more data point in tracking a film's progress toward the big screen, alongside trailers, posters and cast interviews.

What this means for Dhamaal 4's path to release

For a family comedy franchise in particular, minor CBFC edits rarely have any meaningful effect on box-office prospects. The core audience for Dhamaal 4 is unlikely to be swayed one way or the other by adjustments to specific gestures or words; what matters far more to that audience is the presence of familiar faces, the promise of broad humour, and the reliability of a franchise they have already invested in across three earlier films. What the certification does change is the practical footing of the release: with the certificate in hand, the film's date is now effectively de-risked, and the studio can move forward with confidence on the marketing and distribution planning that a wide theatrical release requires.

Going forward, the natural next milestones to watch will be the confirmation of an official release date, if one has not already been locked, followed by the standard promotional rollout of trailers, posters and cast appearances. None of that is contingent on the specific nature of the CBFC edits reported here, which appear procedural rather than substantive. The larger story is simply that Dhamaal 4 has cleared its most significant pre-release hurdle.

The NE Times View

The attention on Dhamaal 4's certificate is a reminder that in Bollywood, the CBFC stamp has quietly become a marketing event of its own. Trade watchers parse every reported cut for clues about tone, runtime and release readiness, and studios increasingly treat clearance news as a signal to ramp up promotion. For family comedies in particular, minor edits rarely dent box-office prospects — what matters is that the film's date is now effectively de-risked. Audiences should read this update for what it is: procedural progress, not controversy. The more interesting long-term story is how certification, once a purely administrative step, has become part of the promotional choreography of modern Hindi cinema releases.

Key takeaways

• Dhamaal 4 has been cleared by the CBFC with changes to certain gestures and words, according to Hindustan Times and Indian Express reports.
• The edits appear routine and practical rather than controversial, and clearance removes the main uncertainty around the film's release timeline.
• The Dhamaal franchise's irreverent comic style makes even minor cuts a point of fan curiosity, though such edits are common across the comedy genre.
• Ensemble familiarity from Ajay Devgn and Riteish Deshmukh, plus Ravi Kishan's public comments on the comedy genre, are sustaining pre-release interest.
• CBFC clearance news has increasingly become an informal marketing beat in Bollywood, signalling release readiness rather than raising concern.