With the Information & Broadcasting Ministry stepping in to curb the alleged excesses on the digital platform, there is widespread panic among filmmakers who feel this restraint may relocate the era of draconian censorship to the digital domain.
Alankrita had to face severe censorial intervention in her feature film Lipstick Under My Burkha. But her latest film Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare which had liberal references to female sexuality, went without cuts on the OTT platform.
Says Alankrita, “I hope that it (the I&B intervention) doesn't affect streaming content. And we continue to make what we want to make. And we battle it out if we have to. But it is sad and will obviously lead to more self-censorship. And more hesitation in the kind of stories being green-lit by digital platforms.” ALSO READ: Amruta Subhash Congratulates Her Friend Alankrita Shrivastava For Her Netflix Original Next
Alankrita reiterates that she is against censorship per se. “In a country like India that has normalised the idea of censorship right from the time of independence it is inevitable that no medium would be spared. I am opposed to the idea of censorship itself. Across all mediums. I think there should be age ratings/ certification not censorship.” ALSO READ: Team Lipstick Under My Burkha Talks About Intimate Scenes, Tabboos And The Patriarchy
Alankrita is now working on her next film. She hopes the content won’t be muted, manipulated or mutilated the way it was in Lipstick Under My Burqa. When the film was submitted to the censor board in 2017 the-then censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani had commented to this writer, “We were shown a version of Lipstick Under My Burqa that was unacceptable to the CBFC. The Examining Committee did not recommend any cuts because Prakash Jha(producer Lipstick Under My Burqa) is a habitual censor protester. He doesn’t take to cuts very kindly. He likes to generate publicity for his films by creating controversies involving the censor board. When the Examining Committee had recommended cuts for his last film Jai Gangaajal he had gone to the Tribunal and got his film certified. This time for Lipstick Under My Burqa he did the same.”
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Image Source: Instagram/bollywoodgaliyara ,latestnews.fresherslive