‘Self-regulation is the best, censorship is outdated’

OTT platforms do not face the threat of online censorship at least for now. Actors and makers believe it would have curtailed their creativity. A petition filed a non-governmental organisation claimed that due to lack of regulation for webexclusive content, the platforms, including Netflix and Amazon Prime were telecasting shows full of ‘vulgarity, religiously forbidden and morally unethical’, and hence should be banned till regulations are framed. However, Delhi High Court dismissed the plea on February 8.

Actors and makers applaud the court’s decision. Actor Kubbra Sait, who shot to fame with Sacred Games, says, “I am just mad excited to hear this story. It’s the grandest time of our entertainment sector, and regulations would curb our potential. We are moving towards excellence and that is pure joy.” Makers, too, are relieved by the decision. “Streaming platforms themselves have their own guidelines. It is thrust upon films because it suits some people. Censorship is a redundant concept,” says Hansal Mehta, one of the makers of Bose, the web series starring Rajkummar Rao.

Streaming platforms, too, claim that they believe in regulating themselves. Manish Aggarwal, business head, ZEE5 India, says, “We welcome this move by the judiciary. The journey of selfdiscovery through content customisation has been one of the USPs of OTT viewing. That said, we, at ZEE5, have been very conscious of the content we put out for our audience.”

Sunil Lulla, group chief executive officer at Balaji (who run AltBalaji) says, “Our entire belief is self regulation.”

Actor Karan Wahi, who has starred in the web show Bar Code, says that the platform has given people a chance to experiment .“I think even though we belong to a creative field, we have never really understood the importance of creative freedom. We should also consider the fact that the digital medium has benefitted so many creative artists thereby giving our talented young writers and directors the chance to create interesting content,” he says.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta says he was sure that the decision wouldn’t go the other way round. “It had to happen. How can you have censorship on online streaming? When the plea was filed, I had said then this is absolute nonsense, kuchh nahi hone ka hai. Nahi hua obviously. It’s not a tenable exercise,” he says.

Clockwise from top: Still web series Mirzapur, Rangba and Sacred Games