UK Oscar entry 'Santosh' in stalemate with Indian censors, release uncertain
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI): Globally acclaimed Hindi film "Santosh", Britain's official entry at the Oscars and one of the most talked about titles last year, may not make it to Indian theatres following hurdles in its censor certification.
Though there was no official comment from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), a member termed it "a classic case of gross disagreement" between the producers and the board.
"They are unrelenting. They want zero modifications, and CBFC wants the modifications. They went to the revising committee for the second time, made more modifications, and lost their January release date... there has to be a middle ground," the member told PTI on condition of anonymity.
"Santosh", directed by British Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, known for documentaries such as "I For India" and "Around India with a Movie Camera",
is a police procedural thriller set in north India. The film, starring Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, was initially set for an India release on January 10.
A co-production between United Kingdom, Germany and France, it revolves around a widow who gets her late husband's job of a police constable. She and her senior inspector are soon sucked into a high profile investigation into the rape and murder of a Dalit teenager.
"Santosh" premiered in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival in May last year. In India, it was showcased at the Mumbai MAMI film festival and the Dharamshala International Film Festival.
It was named UK's official Oscar entry last year but failed to make it to the final five. The film's distribution in India is being handled by PVR Inox Pictures.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Suri said the censor board in India demanded radical cuts so lengthy and wide-ranging that they would be impossible to implement. She said the list of cuts included several pages and including concerns about themes relating to police conduct.
“It was very important to me that the film is released in India so I did try to figure out if there was a way to make it work,” said Suri.
“But in the end it was just too difficult to make those cuts and have a film that still made sense, let alone stayed true to its vision,” she told the newspaper.
Goswami, who plays the lead role in the movie, said she never thought it would run into a problem.
"It is disheartening... The changes are not something that we feel comfortable to make because it would alter the film. I think that's just a decision that's got made by elimination... it's nobody's desire to not have the film come out here. But at this point, that's kind of where it stands. I do feel sad about it," Goswami told PTI.
"Santosh", she said, does not target any particular person or a group but presents the reality of society.
"There's no reason why this film should create any difficulty," she said.
CBFC member, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, has come out in support of the movie.
"I don’t know about the cut list. I’m against banning any kind of creative work. My films have been cancelled," the director, known for controversial movies such "The Tashkent Files" and "The Kashmir Files", told PTI.
He said "Santosh" is a highly-acclaimed film and he is looking forward to watching it.
"It is a British entry to Oscar. I’ve no idea why it has been censored. It should be released in India. I’m not aware of the technicalities (of this film). We should be welcoming these films. CBFC has no mandate to ban anything; they are not a law-making authority, but they can make suggestions," Agnihotri added.
In an earlier interview with PTI, Suri had said the film's release in India is of "supreme importance" to her.
"It just ended up that I made a film on the Indian police. Actually, it is a very accessible film and the actors are so great. I had an amazing run in the cinemas in France. I did not make this film for viewers only outside of India... There are things which an Indian audience will definitely pick up that others might not," she said in October last year.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
