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Video Editor: Ashutosh Bharadwaj
On 15 February, Anik Dutta, an acclaimed Bengali filmmaker, released his latest directorial venture Bhobishyoter Bhoot. The film opened to an almost full house in most movie theatres across West Bengal.
Two days later, Dutta started receiving reports from cinegoers and social media that the film was not being screened in any single screen theatre or multiplex in Kolkata. Those who had bought advanced tickets were being given refunds and those who wanted to purchase fresh ones were told that there was a ‘server failure’.
When Dutta and his team visited the manager of a big multiplex in the city, they were told that there were orders from “higher authorities” to not screen the film.
At the time, the producers refused to show the movie to the authorities as the film already had a CBFC certification and did not need to be vetted further in order to be screened.
But this order, just two days after the release of the film, left Dutta and the producers flummoxed.
In November 2018, the West Bengal government organised the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). A glitzy affair, it came under attack from many sections of intellectuals for the omnipresence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s face at the festival venue.
At the time Dutta had also registered his protest against the life-sized posters of Mamata.
Dutta’s comment attracted a lot of attention at the time. When asked if this could be the reason for his film’s mysterious disappearance from the halls, he said:
The apparent “gag order”, especially in a place like Bengal which has produced satirical films since times immemorial, has left many people on social media fuming.
Actors and common people alike have come out in support of the film.
“I'm not surprised by the present state of affairs. It started with a cartoon or a caricature. There is a strange unwritten kind of gag order where I have found people hesitating from speaking out. I don't know whether it is out of fear or favour or a combination of both. But this was happening,” said Dutta.
“This is not the Kolkata or the Bengal where I grew up,” he added.
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