'Screening of Amartya Sen’s documentary without a censor certificate was illegal'

KOLKATA: Actor George Baker, who is a member of the Central Board of Film Certification, has lashed out at director Suman Ghosh. The reason for his anger is the screening of Ghosh’s controversial documentary on Amartya Sen titled ‘The Argumentative Indian’ at Nandan 3 on Monday.
Said Baker, “I am in Hyderabad now. I have heard that the screening of the documentary was held at Nandan 3 in Kolkata on Monday.It is absolutely illegal to screen a film without a censor certificate.” On being told that there was no tickets issued for the screening, he said, “That’s not the point. A screening without a censor certificate where so many people were invited is illegal. Did anyone see a censor certificate when it was screened at Nandan 3? If they didn’t, it clearly shows that the film-maker was violating rules. This only goes on to prove that those who talk about freedom of expression are actually taking all the liberty to break rules.”
On being asked about the beep controversy, Baker said, “I respect Amartya Sen immensely. But I am against people misusing their intelligence and intellect. In Bengal, there are some touchy subjects. There are people claiming to be apolitical but doing things with a political agenda. I don’t know the context in which the words were used in the documentary. In the discussions being held on this controversy, I have heard people referring to the leaders of the ruling party as clowns and fools. I strongly object to that. We have to remember that if in Bengal, we can claim that the present regime has been elected by popular vote, at the centre our government is also in power because of popular votes. If we don’t have any right to use such words about the government in Bengal, how can we say such things about our government at the centre?” he asked.
As for the recommendations to beep certain words, Baker said he has objections to Gujarat being picked on all the time. “Very frankly speaking, we are going through a tough time in Bengal. How can a person of Amartya Sen’s intellect refer to words like Hindutwa and cow and not mention other issues like Dhulagarh? Why is Gujarat alone being picked on? Is it because Narendra Modi was the former chief minister of the state? I find these sort of references very unreasonable. People are very selective about tarnishing the image of a certain state. All it does is create discontent and discord. Our prime minister has come down heavily on ‘gaurakshak’s. He has done what should be done. Why are we still criticising him? I think, it’s important to stop casting aspersions on him.”
According to Baker, this documentary controversy seems like a “publicity stunt” created while riding piggyback on CBFC. He criticised the recent trend of announcing the release dates of movies before the certification is done. “Most of the time, the makers create a controversy and say that censorship issues are derailing their release dates. I don’t know how people decide on release dates of a movie without it getting a censor certificate. Ideally, one has to submit a film for certification three weeks before the expected release of a movie. It is preferable if the submission is 1.5 months in advance. When we ask why that isn’t done, the makers say they didn’t know the system. But my point is if you are in system, you better know it. People are just taking advantage and using censorship issues to gain cheap publicity,” he concluded.