The I&B ministry had overruled the recommendation of the 13-member jury and omitted Malayalam movie 'S Durga' and Marathi film 'Nude' from the 48th edition of the film festival to be held from November 20 to 28
A political controversy erupted over the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry's decision of dropping two of the 20 films recommended by a jury to be screened at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Goa scheduled later this month.
The I&B ministry had overruled the recommendation of the 13-member jury and omitted Malayalam movie 'S Durga' and Marathi film 'Nude' from the 48th edition of the film festival to be held from November 20 to 28, prompting filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh to resign as the head of the jury of IFFI's Indian Panorama section.
Defending the ministry's stand, government sources said that the ministry had received several complaints against the Sexy Durga title and held that it may affect the law and order situation with Durga being a principal Hindu Goddess, when it was to be screened at the MAMI. About the film 'Nude', sources said it was technically not complete when it was submitted.
"In fact, the ministry had also suggested that the film 'S Durga' should seek certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in due course. The examining committee found the film to be violative of guideline 6, ie provocative and disrespectful to certain faith/religion. Therefore it recommended for grant of U/A certificate with excisions and modification to the film that included changing the title of the film and deleting vulgar words," a ministry source said.
Even though the title of the film was changed S Durga as per the recommendations of the CBFC, the government failed to clarify why was the film was taken off the IFFI's list.
The jury submitted its list to the ministry around September 21, but the line-up was made public recently, deleting the two films.
While 'S Durga', earlier titled Sexy Durga, is a thriller, 'Nude' depicts the struggle of a woman working as a nude model in Mumbai. Former I&B minister Manish Tewari hit out at the government for interfering in the decisions of the IFFI jury.
Tewari tweeted, "PREPOSTEROUS -that I&B Ministry got two Films dropped from #IFFI2017. Interference with Jury decisions a new LOW. When Ministry tasked with defending Freedom of Speech & Expression becomes it's SLAYER it is time for the creative community to revolt against this CRUDE censorship."
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