E-plea to CM for 'Cosmic Sex' at Nandan

Kolkata: The makers of the film, 'Cosmic Sex', which was barred from

Nandan

on "aesthetic grounds", have initiated an online petition to chief minister Mamata Banerjee to intervene in the controversy and lay down a "transparent and equitable" process of selection of films to be shown at the state-run theatre.

What's interesting is that just three months ago, Nandan had screened Amitabh

Chakraborty

's 'Cosmic Sex' as part of the first FFSI National festival organized by the

Federation of Film Societies of India

. "The festival, held between March 25 and 30, was initiated at Nandan and is travelling across India. We had shown 'Cosmic Sex' as the closing film," said Premendra

Mazumder

, FFSI general secretary.

Mazumder, who has signed the petition, was shocked to hear that Nandan's screening committee developed cold feet during the movie's commercial release. "We have no connection with the screening committee of Nandan. All Indian films shown at this festival are censored. We don't even need permission from Nandan screening committee to show it. Satyajit Ray was the founder of our federation and this system has been continuing since the inception of Nandan," he said.

Director Bedabrata Pain feels there is no place for gatekeepers of aesthetics or morality.

"In this case, the arbitrariness is at another level, because of the CBFC certification and the fact that it has been shown at Nandan earlier. In fact, this arbitrariness of the powers that be is symptomatic of what ails Indian democracy today," Pain said.

Chakraborty feels it ought to be a mandate of a government-owned theatre like Nandan to support independent cinema. "The film is for the people to accept or reject. We have been verbally told that this film won't be screened. We haven't been given any reason in writing," Chakraborty said.

Mazumder has already started a social media campaign to urge the government to allow the screening of the film at Nandan.

"Our chief minister is always in favour of cinema. The screening system at Nandan is based on archaic perceptions initiated by the Left front government, and should be discontinued. I request our CM to personally look into it."

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