Hindustan Times (Patna) - Hindustan Times (Patna) - Live
‘Sacred Games showed censorship hypocrisy’
Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane, who co-directed the web show Sacred Games with Anurag Kashyap, says that despite the nudity and gore on the show, there was no outrage from viewers, no law and order problem. This, he points out, only highlights the “hypocrisy” of the Censor Board, which demands cuts and changes supposedly to preserve the country’s moral fabric.
“Sacred Games had everything in it. It had nudity, it had gore, it had abuses. But was there any outrage in the country about it? Was there a law and order problem in the country because of it? No,” says Motwane. “So, my whole point is that [Sacred Games] sort of showed the hypocrisy of our Censor Board — that they censor things because they think it might create problems in future. So what problems are you talking about? It has shown the empty threats that the Censor Board makes,” he adds.
The 41-year-old filmmaker feels that the Censor Board — informal name for the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) — objects to film projects based on preconceived notions. He also argues that the popularity of web shows, which are not under any obligation to get a CBFC certificate, proves the maturity of viewers.
“It just shows that audiences are intelligent. I mean, no one was going to watch six hours of content just because there were two nude scenes in it,” he says. “Whosoever watched the show watched it because of the story and the characters.”
Motwane, who has produced the web series Ghoul, states that the artist community never gave up its creative freedom. “We’ve never shied away from making what we always wanted to, and we’ve always fought with the Censor Board for what’s right... But yes, [on] web shows, there’s this liberty; you don’t have to worry about them,” he adds.
They censor things because they think it might create problems in future. So what problems are you talking about? VIKRAMADITYA MOTWANE FILMMAKER