West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee recently put an immediate ban on the screening of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ in the state to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence". Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film depicts how women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam in order to be recruited by the terror group ISIS.
Now CBFC member Vani Tripathi has mentioned that the West Bengal government 'can't decide' a ban on the film. She told News18, “You are taking away the democratic right of the audience, which will decide the fate of the film. You cannot decide it, I cannot decide it, even a producer can’t decide (the fate of the film). It will be the people who will decide if the movie talks to them, whether it creates a bridge between them and what filmmakers are saying."
She added, "Every film does not need to be a tearjerker, there are films which are dark. But again, at the end of the day, we can only certify a film and that is the only plethora of democratic certification in this country. If that is also getting hampered, then bhagwan hi malik hai (God alone can save it)."
Meanwhile, apart from CBFC, the Producers Guild of India condemned the ban on ‘The Kerala Story’ as well. Its official statement read as, "The Producers Guild of India is distressed by, and would like to record its strong objection to, state-enforced bans on The Kerala Story. As emphasised by us on several occasions in the past, film releases are regulated by CBFC and any film that complies with this statutory requirement should face no further hurdles in having the paying public decide on its fate."
It also added, "Of course, the audience can choose to watch or ignore any film but that is a choice that should be theirs to make, not one that is imposed on them by any party other than CBFC. We call upon all the relevant authorities to urgently address this all-too-frequent phenomenon of films being denied their right to unfettered, nation-wide exhibition despite having duly complied with regulatory requirements."
Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film released on May 5, and stars Adah Sharma. It has been produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah's Sunshine Pictures.
