A documentary on Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen was refused a green signal by the Indian censor board over the use of words ‘cow’, ‘Gujarat’, ‘Hindu India’ and ‘Hindutva’, used by Sen in the film, generating anger, shock and cries of “fascism” from the opposition, auteurs and writers.

The Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) move was prompted by documentary maker Suman Ghosh’s refusal to bow to its diktat that the four words uttered by the Bharat Ratna awardee during an interview in the film “An Argumentative Indian” be muted.

While the world renowned economist refused to be drawn into the controversy, Ghosh expressed shock over the recommendations of the panel, which held that the words would “damage the country’s image”.

“They say these words, for example, ‘Gujarat’ have to be muted with a beep as Sen made some comments about the Gujarat riots. They also wanted that the word ‘cow’ be muted. I found these ridiculous,” said Ghosh.

Ghosh said when words used by a person of such international stature were being deleted, “then it only shows up to what extent things can go. As a first hand witness to such a thing, I can only say I am a bit shocked”.

The censor board, which has stoked controversy in recent times by recommending a whopping 12 cuts in Madhur Bhandarkar’s forthcoming “Indu Sarkar”, as also by running its scissors over films like “Lipstick Under My Burkha” and “Jab Harry Met Sejal”, drew all round flak after its latest decision.

National Award winning film director Goutam Ghose and other eminent persons were aghast that the censorship now extends to somebody like Sen, recipient of India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.

Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee, who was present at the screening of the documentary in Kolkata on Monday, termed the CBFC’s move as an “extent of fascism on the society” and “utter foolishness”.

Sahitya Akademi winner Nabanita Deb Sen, also the first wife of the famed economist, said by censoring these words the Centre is trying to censor the freedom of speech of Amartya Sen.

Bhandarkar refused to comment on the development specifically but averred that filmmakers should be given the freedom to work on their subject.

Raising the political pitch, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, flayed the Centre for “trying to muzzle every opposition voice in the country”.

However, Sen suggested that the government speak to the stakeholders about its disapproval.

“What can I say about this? This film is not made by me. I am the subject of the film and the subject should not be talking about these things,” said Sen.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh backed the CBFC decision.

“Censor board has the right to decide which film to censor and which to pass. I do not think any film should be passed just because someone special has appeared in it,” Ghosh said.

Calls to CBFC went answered.

The hour-long documentary, structured as a free flowing conversation between Sen and his student and Cornell economics professor Kaushik Basu, has already been screened in New York and London. It had a special screening in Kolkata on Monday.

In an earlier controversial decision by the NDA government, Amartya Sen was removed from the governing board of Nalanda University (NU), of which he was founding Chancellor, in November 2016. 

Sen, who has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had resigned as Nalanda University Chancellor in February 2015 and publicly attacked the BJP-led NDA government after stepping down. 

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IANS

Documentary by Dilip Mehta

Rating: ****

At one point in this haunting look at the life of a porn star who betrayed her conservative Punjabi family to rule the adult entertainment industry, Sunny Leone bursts out, “So what if my home town disowned me? Today every Indian family wants me to be a part of them.”

Ahem. Not quite. The level of acceptability as a ‘Bollywood actress’ that Sunny and her incredibly-supportive husband Daniel Webber, imagine for her, is just not a realistic goal. During the long revealing monologues in camera in this eloquent documentary, Sunny seems to feel she has left her past, as a porn star, behind.

Dilip Mehta’s searing documentary reminds us not too gently how outrageously impossible it is to wipe out one’s past karma in a flurry of song, dance and drama that is Bollywood masala.

“Mostly Sunny” is not a fluff job. It is neither a cop-out nor an insider’s job. But somewhere in-between. It doesn’t focus on the sleazy, leery side of Sunny’s life to generate a heated titillation. Calmly, Mehta, whose earlier documentary on the widows of Vrindavan remains a haunting portrait of desolation, doesn’t take the easy route while focusing on Sunny’s provocative activities in the past to show how they impinge on her present.

Many times the acts of betrayal that turned ‘Karenjit’ to ‘Sunny’ make us flinch for their unabashed homage to materialism. This is not an ordinary raunchy-to-posh saga of a Punjabi girl from Sarnia, a small town in Canada, who decided she had to make obscene amounts of money to afford the lifestyle that she craved for.

Joining her in her cru(de)sade is her faithful husband. It is not very clear to me why Daniel gave up his thriving family steel business to become a porn star alongside his wife. Dilip’s documentary is hazy on that issue. Perhaps it is of little interest to Mehta. What he tracks down with a sleuth’s single mindedness is the ghosts from Sunny’s past as they come to haunt her present.

The most memorable moment in this diligently packaged portrait of a life entrapped in erotic excursions are when Sunny (with faithful husband) visits her hometown and is shunned by everyone as the daughter who brought disgrace and doom on her family.

To reiterate the damage that Karenjit Kaur perpetrated on her folks when she transformed into ‘Sunny Leone’, there is Sunny’s brother Sunny (Yup… she took her alias for her adult activities from her kid brother) saying on camera that their mother drank herself to death after she got to know her daughter’s true calling.

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Indeed, the most genuine and humane face of Sunny Leone when she is no longer pouty, provocative, poseur is when she talks about her parents. Mehta’s camera captures her in stark make-up-less anguish. These are moments that are filled with an unspoken rage and fear about what happens when the light dims and the oomph fades away.

It is not difficult to see why Sunny Leone has disowned this saga of her life as seen through the eyes of a director who is unsparing in his morality and dispassionate in capturing a life that has forfeited a self-discipline. “Mostly Sunny” is a searing, stark, sometimes startling peek into the void at the heart of the stardom that comes to those who are in the business of titillation.

What makes Sunny Leone tick? And what makes her fans get sexually aroused at her very thought? This capably crafted heartfelt homage to the heroine of the horny hemisphere spares us none of the sordid sidelights to Sunny’s seemingly charmed life.

Seen in a harsh but non-judgmental light, she comes across as strong and vulnerable and terribly misguided in her belief that it’s okay to have sex on camera and then move on in life.

Some experiences refuse to leave.

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Acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s daughter Aaliyah Kashyap has made her first documentary film. Aaliyah, who recently modeled for a high street fashion portal, has made the documentary on education of girls for her school. The proud daddy tweeted on Wednesday, “My daughter’s first documentary project on education of girls for school.” Aaliyah is Anurag’s daughter with his former wife Aarti Bajaj. Anurag and Aarti, who works as a film editor, got married in 2003 and headed for divorce in 2009. After that Anurag married actress Kalki Koechlin in 2011. They separated in 2015. Anurag is best known for his films like ‘Black Friday’, ‘Dev.D’, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and ‘Ugly’.

My daughter’s first Documentary Project on Education Of Girls for school https://t.co/T3tBSyZRyC

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) January 3, 2017

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