Documentary films are non-fictional narratives of events that are made “for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record”. These are subjective pieces of art that are tainted by one’s biases and ideas. This subjectivity at times tends to create fiction among individuals, communities, and also the leaders.
There are several documentary films that were criticised and banned for their content, topic, and sometimes even the date of release offends others. A documentary reflects a point of view that is based on audio-visual aid and at times the truth about an aspect of the subject tends to hurt some people.
“India’s Daughter”, a documentary film made by BBC and directed by Leslee Udwin in 2015 revolves around the Delhi gang-rape case of 2012. The film features interviews of the victim's family members, one of the accused persons (Mukesh Singh), including lawyers and psychiatrists.
Many people including former finance minister Arun Jaitley believed that this was an attempt to tarnish the image of India across the globe. It was also because the film revealed the identity of the victim which violated the Indian law, under section 228A of IPC where the identity of the rape victim is not to be made public. This film was banned as the government had anticipated a potential outrage by the public. Kavita Krishnan, a feminist activist believed that this film supported a patriarchal aspect. The filmmakers were booked for creating offensive content and disrupting public law and order. A petition was filed to ban the screening of the film in India.
Apart from this, there are many other documentaries that were banned for political reasons. The Final Solution is a 2004 documentary film made by Rakesh Sharma. It featured the 2002 Gujarat riots and was banned by the censor board under the grounds that it “promotes communal disharmony among Hindu and Muslim groups and presents the picture of Gujarat riots in a way that it may arouse communal feelings and clashes among Hindu and Muslim groups.” However, the ban was lifted soon after the audience protested and urged the government to lay off the ban.
Some other films included No Fire Zone by Callum MacRae which was banned to save the country’s international relations with Sri Lanka, Phantom India, a 1961 documentary was also not allowed to be screened. It is believed that the movie represented the slums and poverty of Calcutta and Mumbai including the caste system and westernisation of the country. The government seemed to have been uncomfortable with the portrayal in the international lands.
Films, music, and other art formats are banned and stopped from being screened publicly as they do have a powerful influence on the public. The filmmakers and artists do have the creative freedom to express their views, however, sometimes these views can provoke or disrupt the peace of the society.
These films do have an effect on a certain section of the society which may cause problems in the law and order, at times it may even make certain countries being looked down upon. In such circumstances, some documentary feature films get banned for public viewing. However, if the bans are on the basis of an invalid or baseless suspicion, they are lifted and films are made accessible.
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