This trend is catching up like a wildfire in the country and unfortunately, there is no permanent solution in sight.
Cinema and filmmakers suffer at the hands of political parties, fringe groups, communities, government policies and at times fall prey to moral policing too.
In a diverse country like ours, cinema like any other art form is hugely perceived from the prism of social strata and religion. Thus the cries of storytellers for freedom of expression and speech getting curbed persistently fall on deaf ears of policymakers.
Ahead of the release of a film, protest from the fringe group is the worst nightmare a filmmaker can imagine of. While the film suffers unreasonably on the pretext of 'hurting sentiments', the huge money at stake and lives of hundreds of people associated with the film are suddenly tossed into jeopardy.
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What is the cause for serious concern here is the silence of policymakers and submission of filmmakers to such irrational demands by various organisations.
When filmmakers under pressure try to make peace with groups objecting their films they are in a way encouraging this practice and set a wrong precedent for the future recurrence of a similar issue.
How opinions can be formed without watching the film in the first place?
As soon as the trailer releases, claims of hurting the sentiments start pouring in from left right and center. In the cases like 'Padmavat', the cacophony reached its crescendo when Rs 5 crore bounty was announced on the heads of film's actor and director.