Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, known for movies like Kahaani and Jhankaar Beats, resigned on Tuesday, from the post of Jury Chairman at the 48th International Film Festival of India 2017. His resignation was a mark of protest after two movies were allegedly removed from the line-up of the festival.
Malayalam film S Durga and Marathi film Nude were taken off the list of films to be showcased at the film festival that will be held at Goa from November 20. Ghosh was the jury chairman of the 48th International Film Festival of India 2017 and was a part of the Indian Panorama section, The Hindu reported.
What led to Ghosh’s resignation?
On November 9, the I&B Ministry announced the list of ‘feature’ and ‘non-feature’ films for the Indian Panorama section which is scheduled to be held from November 20 to 28 in Goa. PTI reports that the I&B ministry rejected the recommendation of the 13-member jury and dropped the two movies from the festival. When asked if he had tendered his resignation due to this controversy, Ghosh said, “Yes, but I can’t say anything more than that right now.”
Several other jury members also voiced their displeasure over the ministry’s decision while the latter is yet to come up with a specific reason for the move. The jury had already submitted its recommendation in September, but the line-up was made public recently.
One of the jury members, Apurva Asrani, had earlier tweeted, saying that both the movies “present a poweful and empathetic portrait of women of today’s India.”
About the two movies
S Durga, earlier titled Sexy Durga, directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, follows the story of two hitchhikers and their harrowing experience on the road. Sasidharan has claimed he will move the court after the ministry’s decision, which he alleged that the authorities had delayed “on purpose”. In October, the ministry had opposed the movie’s title, denying censor exemption and approval for screening at the MAMI film festival 2017. Later, it was given the go-ahead to feature in the festival with a U/A certificate. However, CBFC’s nudge led to the change in title to S Durga and removal of certain words from some scenes.
The other movie Nude is about the hardships of a woman, who secretly poses as a nude model in Mumbai.
The directors of both the movies were shocked to learn about the exclusion of their films. “Give me some reason at least. It was selected as the opening film. It was a big honour. I am really disappointed and shocked to hear that it has been dropped,” director Ravi Jadhav told PTI.
Feature image source: Twitter