India, Dec. 17 -- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday slammed the Centre's decision to delay censor exemption for screening of some films at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), saying the country is "much larger than the rulebook" that bureaucrats follow.

Calling the delay "unfortunate", he said that no movie should be denied permission.

"I really think this is an unfortunate development. Kerala has a very knowledgeable cinematic culture. Clearance has never been an issue before. No film should be denied (permission). Some of these films have actually been screened in India before. So it is petty of us to bring in these kinds of considerations. Some of the earlier films that were banned or prevented from getting cleara...