National Award-winning filmmaker Kamal Swaroop's documentary film `Battle for Banaras' is the latest to face the ire of the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
In the two-hour film, inspired by Nobel laureate Elias Canetti's book `Crowds and Power', Swaroop has documented the electoral battle of various political parties in Varanasi during last year's parliamentary polls.
The film was denied a censor certificate from both the exam and the review committee on Thursday . “The film is harmless and is not anti-government. When the CBFC did not approve the film, I asked if any cuts were required. We were told that no cuts can justify such a film and the film was rejected, which is worrisome. When I asked for the reason, I was told the film is `not ok' and there is `some mischief ' in it,“ said Swaroop, who is based out of Mumbai and an alumnus of FTII. He is also a visiting faculty at the institute, which he passed out of in 1974.
He now plans to approach the revising committee and the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal.
Swaroop said his crew shot for 44 days in April 2014 in Varanasi and followed all the 40 candidates in the fray from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency . “In the end, it was a face-off between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal. The film is a celebration of the Indian democracy and did not deal with any single ideology ,“ he said. The film, which has been shot on 4K format, has already been selected to premiere at the Montreal Film Festival.
Swaroop had won the National Award for his documentary film Rangbhoomi, based on Dadasaheb Phalke's book on theatre. He had also assisted filmmaker Richard Attenborough for Gandhi in 1982.
In the two-hour film, inspired by Nobel laureate Elias Canetti's book `Crowds and Power', Swaroop has documented the electoral battle of various political parties in Varanasi during last year's parliamentary polls.
The film was denied a censor certificate from both the exam and the review committee on Thursday . “The film is harmless and is not anti-government. When the CBFC did not approve the film, I asked if any cuts were required. We were told that no cuts can justify such a film and the film was rejected, which is worrisome. When I asked for the reason, I was told the film is `not ok' and there is `some mischief ' in it,“ said Swaroop, who is based out of Mumbai and an alumnus of FTII. He is also a visiting faculty at the institute, which he passed out of in 1974.
He now plans to approach the revising committee and the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal.
Swaroop said his crew shot for 44 days in April 2014 in Varanasi and followed all the 40 candidates in the fray from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency . “In the end, it was a face-off between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal. The film is a celebration of the Indian democracy and did not deal with any single ideology ,“ he said. The film, which has been shot on 4K format, has already been selected to premiere at the Montreal Film Festival.
Swaroop had won the National Award for his documentary film Rangbhoomi, based on Dadasaheb Phalke's book on theatre. He had also assisted filmmaker Richard Attenborough for Gandhi in 1982.
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