KIFF courts controversy with Bhonsle

Controversies have already started plaguing

Kolkata International Film Festival

(KIFF). Filmmaker Devashish Makhija, whose

Bhonsle

was initially selected in the Competition On Indian Language’s Films, was later removed from the festival’s website. An evidently angry Devashish took it to social media and air his discontent. Meanwhile, the festival committee responded by saying that ‘films in the competition section need to be India Premieres’ and ‘since Bhonsle is not, it can’t be in the competition section’.
In a portion of Devashish’s long social media post, the director wrote: “Sure enough though, less than 24 hours after KIFF announced #Bhonsle as a part of the competition, they pulled it out. #Bhonsle is no longer being shown in the festival. I received no official intimation why. Over the phone though our festival agent was informed that they made an ‘error’. Films in the competition section need to be India Premieres. Which #Bhonsle is not. And this was after THEY selected it and after THEY decided to put it in the main competition (sic).”
When we asked Raj Chakrabarty, chairman, KIFF Committee, he said, “We have certain set rules and we have to abide by it. When one film is being submitted, we expect it to follow the mentioned guidelines, rules and regulation. After selecting a film, if the committee finds that it is not abiding the regulations, we will have to take it down. Meanwhile, all of our official announcement will take place on November 1. Before that, nothing has been finalised. Our team has been working relentlessly to make it a very special festival. We hope everyone will like it.”