Censoring Cinema
VIEW EVENT DETAILSCinema as a medium has an immeasurable influence in its ability to reach masses, influence viewpoints and shape culture, especially in India. Entertaining, challenging, informational, and critical, films can send either overt or covert messages with considerable impact on its audiences. As one of the greatest artistic harbingers of free speech and expression, and a form that has the ability to shape culture, how has increasing censorship, prompted by extreme (political) polarization in recent years, affected India's cinema? Across the arts, censorship has become an increasingly sensitive and challenging issue in India and beyond, where countries like China, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Iran have increasingly employed governmental regulations and methods for censorship of the arts. While India enjoys journalistic freedoms with hundreds of newspapers and magazines in circulation, this is still a problem. According to the 2017 World Press Freedom Index, which ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists, India sank three places to No.136 since last year. The panel will consider how freedom of speech and expression, a vital criterion of an active democracy guaranteed by the constitution, has been effected within cinema specifically. What artistic licenses do individuals in the film world feel they have? How do filmmakers and screenwriters creatively approach controversial issues or sensitive subject material? What role does censorship play in contemporary society; what are the benefits if any, and consequences of it? Should the government have the power to intercept certain content? How can the government safeguard the artistic freedom from extremist and fringe groups attacks? Representing the making, critiquing, and sharing processes of the film industry, our panelists will discuss the role of cinema and its potential to bring about political and social change in today's climate.
Moderated by Anil Dharker, Writer and Former Advisor to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, joined by Shaji N. Karun, Director and Premiere Chairman of the Kerala State Chalachritra Academy, Anjum Rajabali, Screenwriter and Former Member of the Central Board of Film Certification, Alankrita Shrivasatava, Director, Lipstick Under my Burkha, and Ravi Jadhav, Director of Nude.
Anil Dharker is the Founder and Director of the Mumbai International Literary Festival, now in its eighth year. He has been Editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India, as well as The Independent and Mid-day. Over the years, he has been a columnist for The Times of India, The Hindu, and other publications. He currently writes for The Huffington Post, Open magazine and On Stage and is the author of 6 books. He has served on the Film Censor Board and headed the National Film Development Corporation where he enabled then young film-makers like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Saeed Mirza, and Ketan Mehta to make their first films. He has been on the Advisory Committee of Doordarshan, is currently the President of Citizens for Justice and Peace and was till recently, the Hon Consul General for Luxembourg for Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. He has received several journalism awards and has been on the jury of various awards including the HSBC`s Indian of the Year.
Ravi Jadhav is a National Award winning Director from Mumbai who went into filmmaking after studying Visual Communications and Graphic Design at Sir J. J. School Of Applied Art. His film Balak-Palak, became a landmark film in the Marathi film industry for its unconventional subject and handling of a sensitive subject like sex education. His fourth filmTimepass went on to become the highest grossing film in the history of Marathi cinema. Jadhav also produced and directed the short film calledMitraa that explores the theme of same-sex relationships; which won the National Film Award for Best Short Fiction.
Shaji N. Karun is a National Award-winning and internationally acclaimed Director and Cinematographer. His debut film Piravi (1988) won the Special Mention, Caméra d'Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. He was the Premiere Chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the first academy for film and TV in India and was also the executive chairman of International Film Festival of Kerala from 1998 to 2001. He is also best known for his award-winning films Vanaprastham (1999) and Kutty Srank (2009). He has served on the Censor Board in Kerala and has served as a juror for a number of film festivals in India and abroad. As Director of Photography for more than 40 feature films and 12 documentaries, he has been awarded by many cultural organizations and film societies. He is an active supporter of Parallel film Movement in India.
Anjum Rajabali has been a professional screenwriter since 1992, with films like Drohkaal, Ghulam, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, and Raajneetito his name. For 12 years, he was the Honorary Head of the Screenplay Writing Department, which he designed and created, at FTII Pune, in 2004. Since 2006, he has been the Founder-Head of Screenwriting at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai. He regularly conducts screenwriting workshops and seminars in India and abroad. Rajabali is a senior activist of the Screenwriters Association, the union for writers.
Alankrita Shrivastava is an award-winning feature film director and screenwriter from Mumbai, India with a penchant for telling women’s stories. She likes to explore the interior world of women through her films. Shrivastava has written and directed two feature films – Turning 30 (2011) and Lipstick Under My Burkha. Lipstick Under My Burkha has been screened at over 60 international film festivals and won 18 international awards, apart from being a critical and commercial success in India.
Event Details
Hall of Culture, Nehru Center
100, Dr. Annie Besant Rd,
Lotus Colony, Worli
Mumbai 400 018
RSVP Mandatory, Please Email:
asiasocietyindiacentre@asi