India topped the list of 78 countries that censored the most number of films in 2017, according to a study titled ‘The State of Artistic Freedom’. The study, conducted by Freemuse, an independent international organisation for free artistic expression, noted that 20 percent of all the film censorship cases, from across the world, came from India.
India was followed by Turkey and Pakistan, along with Lebanon, France and China. While Pakistan accounted to 9 percent of the censorship cases found, China accounted for 6 percent of the total cases.
The report mentioned Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat and SK Sasidharan’s S Durga to be two of the “most banned” films in India. While it noted that Padmaavat was attacked and threatened over “nationalist and religious interpretations” of history, it said S Durga faced censorship related to religion.
India also featured in the list of 10 countries that exhibited “alarming developments in how they treat artists”, and in top six countries that denied women artistic rights.
Countries like China, the United States, Cuba, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Poland, Venezuela and Spain also featured in the list of countries in the “alarming trend” category, while Iran, Israel and Egypt featured in the list of countries that denied artistic rights to women.
Throughout the year, they were confronted by frequent hurdles put in their way by censors demanding cuts to films deemed indecent or likely to offend religious or ethnic sentiments. These challenges came amidst threats, and sometimes attacks by caste groups.State of Artistic Freedom Report
55 percent of documented violations of artistic freedom in India came from government authorities, said the report, while 36 percent of them came from religious and caste groups.
The challenge of being creative in a multi-religious and culturally sensitive society was profound for Indian filmmakers in 2017. Claims of preserving cultural values and preventing religious uprisings were used excessively by censors to justify violation of artistic freedom. This seemingly encouraged far right caste groups to take action towards stalling film releases, threatening and attacking filmmakers in the course of the year.State of Artistic Freedom Report
(With inputs from a report titled ‘The State of Artistic Freedom Report’)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)