BJP supports CBFC move to red flag Amartya Sen documentary

Kolkata July 12 (IANS) Supporting CBFC s decision to red flag director Suman Ghosh s documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday said the board had the power to pass a movie or stall it based on its evaluation.

"The board has the right to decide which film to censor and which to pass. I do not think any film should be passed just because someone special has appeared in it " Ghosh said.

"I was also a member of the board. There can be many controversial aspects of a film. The importance and significance of certain things can change depending on the situation and context. The reactions to them might also vary " he added.

The Central Board of Film Certification has stalled the release of the documentary objecting to four words used by Sen -- cow Gujarat Hindu and Hindutva.

According to the documentary s maker officials verbally asked him to mute those four words to get a U/A certification.

The director opposed the suggestion stating it would kill the essence of the documentary.

The hour-long documentary titled The Argumentative Indian shot over a span of 15 years and featuring several notable economists like former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is primarily structured as a freewheeling conversation between Sen and his student and Cornell Economics Professor Kaushik Basu. It has already been screened in New York and London.

A special screening was held in Kolkata on Monday and the documentary was scheduled for release at a number of theatres on Friday.

--IANS
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