'...Draupathi depicts the OBC reaction to Dalit politics. Anger drives the film – a sense of injustice over Dalits having gone too far just as elsewhere some Hindus feel Muslims have gone too far, egged on by political appeasement... Draupathi, the eponymous character, is a village activist. With strong convictions, she mounts campaigns against oil and gas projects and scorns corporates for ‘sucking’ out resources and cultural traditions.
'Three Kashmir-based activists have filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking a stay on the release of upcoming Hindi movie 'Shikara' which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990. The petitioners have alleged that the movie, directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, contains "communal content" and has “concocted portrayal of Kashmiri Muslims about the migration of Kashmir pandits on January 19, 1990.”...'
'The assault on students at Jamia Millia by Delhi police prompted filmmaker Anurag Kashyap to return on Twitter and expressed his anger on the recent developments. Reacting to police lathicharge on the Jamia students, Kashyap called the Modi government “fascist” and said, “he can’t stay silent any longer”... Other voices from the film industry also condemned the police action inside the Jamia University. Actor Taapsee Pannu said the videos of police action inside the campus were heartbreaking. “Wonder if this is a start or the end.
'In the upcoming Christian Bale-Matt Damon-starrer, Ford v Ferrari, the CBFC has asked the makers to blur out pictures of alcohol bottles and glasses containing alcohol from the frame. In images seen by HuffPost India, scenes that have alcohol bottles, both in the background and foreground, have been hastily pixelated. For instance, when a character is holding what appears to be a wine glass, the viewer only sees him holding an object, with the glass missing, effectively dampening the viewing experience.
'The release of a biopic drama on Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been brought forward by a week, to April 5, raising many eyebrows. The film will now premiere just before the start of voting for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The blunt and unimaginatively titled PM Narendra Modi is a fawning rendition of Modi’s life, and could have an impact on voters or even be seen as campaign material. Yet a number of former election commissioners told The Wire that the film’s release passes the litmus test of legality and does not violate the model code of conduct...'
'No apology, no resignation, said Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani today, as he fielded multiple attacks for having alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party funded Anurag Kashyap's film Udta Punjab. Mr Nihalani said he cannot substantiate his allegation but, "I won't apologise, I said what I heard." Top filmmakers today said they stand with Mr Kashyap, who says that the Censor Board has ordered the removal of all references to Punjab and elections, imposing 89 cuts in his film, which deals with drug abuse in Punjab.
;Forget cuss words, now even the images of Indian goddesses have failed to make the cut in front of the Indian censor board. In the soon-to-be-released film Angry Indian Goddesses, amongst the 17 cuts that the Indian censor board wanted filmmakers to make, was the blurring of the images of two Indian goddesses -- a picture of Lakshmi in the credits, and later in the movie, a picture of Kali. Movie producer Gaurav Dhingra said that he had failed to make the cut in front of the revising committee.
A group of filmmakers and scholars have written a letter written to Arun Jaitley, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore, minister of state for I & B and C. Senthil Rajan, Director of Film Festivals condemning the manner in which students of the Film and Television Institute of India have been treated at the International Film Festival of India currently going on in Goa. They have pointed out that ex-students have been arrested for protesting and one student was even put in preventive detention. The letter reads:
Statement issued by filmmakers from India regarding the Nepal blockade. Issued at the Film South Asia, Kathmandu / 21 November 2015
As filmmakers from India who have gathered to share our work at the Film South Asia in Kathmandu this week, we would like to place on record our solidarity with the people of Nepal who are presently reeling from a grave humanitarian crisis, arising from what is tantamount to an economic blockade.
'Ultimately the roaring voice of the FTII students reached the IFFI (International Film Festival of India) inaugural held at Panaji, Goa. Just when the inaugural had formally ended, chief guest had spoken and the administration was on the cusp of heaving a sigh of relief for a ‘trouble free beginning’ and was contemplating to ‘pat its own back’ for managing to save its ‘image’ the precints of the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium reverberated with slogans in favour of the historic FTII struggle.
