Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmavati' has become the latest victim of an attack on creative freedom. From sets being slashed to the director being threatened, the issue has escalated by far. And the movie has also been threatened of being banned. On this, filmmaker and actor Farhan Akhtar had much to say. He started off by saying that we mustn't underestimate an audience's intelligence and in fact, we must show them films to courage them to understand the culture and think.
He said, “It’s not about just those two films or 'Padmavati'. This has happened with many films in the past and every time it has happened, I have spoken openly about it that it should not happen. I am totally against anything being banned. I genuinely believe that we should stop treating our audiences as children.” “We should allow them to grow. Expose them to different types of ideas. Allow them to understand culture and think. It is important for the development of any nation that there are viewpoints, that are not always in agreement with the majority,” Farhan added.
The actor said that it was the responsibility of the CBFC and the government to protect films and filmmakers. “In cinema, there is no such law that if a film releases, come what may you have to watch it. You have the freedom to boycott the film. To spread the message to boycott the film but what you don’t have is the freedom to threaten someone with grievous bodily harm, or break someone’s theatre or hurt someone in any way. And unfortunately, that’s where the line hasn’t been drawn properly," he said. “We as a film industry are dependent on the CBFC to tell us what is okay and what is not okay. We have accepted that. Beyond that, it is up to the I&B ministry and the government to protect the films and filmmakers. That’s what I have always believed and that’s what I believe in case of these three films,” said Farhan.
The actor also spoke about the unity in the film industry and said that it is of utmost importance to stand united and together. “This has happened in the past. Films that have been banned have gone to the tribunal and they got cleared. The process might have been painful and long but I think it will happen. It’s the time for the film fraternity to come and stand together on these issues. Unfortunately, we also have ourselves to blame. We can’t keep pointing at others. There has been a lack of unity when it comes to these things. We get scared only when it is our film. This is very unfortunate. We are a really small industry, so if we don’t come together then no one will do for us,” he said.