Speaking at Friday's 'Garuda Vega' event, director Praveen Sattaru boldly said that we are living in illiberal times.

"We felt that we had done a clean movie and expected a 'U' from the Censor. 'GV' is a fun, family entertainer. But the Board came up with five cuts. Had such standards been followed during the times of T Krishna (director), he wouldn't have been able to make a 'Prathighatana' and a 'Vande Mataram'. How is it wrong if a police officer's character is called a rapist? Just because he is a government official, should a film not have such dialogues?" he asked.

He also said that we as a democratic country should not resort to such censoring. "We are not a Russia or a China. We are a democratic country. These days, one has to think (fear about consequences) to make a post on Facebook or Twitter," he remarked.

'GV', starring Rajasekhar, Kishore, Adith Arun and others, will hit the screens on Nov 3.