Chennai: Opposition to the BJP-led Union government's draft amendment to the Cinematograph Act is gathering momentum in Kollywood, with celluloid celebrities, including actors and popular filmmakers, terming the proposed legislation as an attempt at throttling freedom of expression. DMK Youth Wing secretary and legislator Udhayanidhi Stalin has joined the ranks of those criticising the Centre's move.
Udhayanidhi, the DMK's crown prince, has put out a tweet demanding the Modi government to desist from amending the Cinematograph Act. The proposed draft amendment, he said, would deprive filmmakers of creative freedom adding that re-censoring films that have been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification would open the floodgates of political vindictiveness. According to him, it reeks of a fascistic trend and hence should be given up.
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His strongly worded opposition comes close on the heels of Kamal Hassan and Suriya as well as acclaimed cinematographer PC Sreeram and award-winning directors Vetri Maran and Karthik Subbaraj raising their voice against the move. All of them have expressed apprehension that this would sound like a death knell to the industry and crush dissent. The clause about retrospectively re-censoring a movie has rattled the industry as a whole. And today is the last day for the public to send suggestions to the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
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Himself an actor and a producer of big-budget movies, it is not surprising that he had teamed up with those who ranged against the Union government becoming a super censor. Moreover, the BJP has little support among actors and filmmakers in Kollywood. Earlier, Kamal Hassan had said that cinema, media and the literati cannot afford to be the iconic three monkeys of India and called upon fellow artists to oppose the Centre's move. Soon followed Suriya, who has been a trenchant critique of the Modi government from demonetisation to the New Education Policy.
“The law should protect freedom of expression and not to throttle it,” he said, describing the proposed move as aimed at undermining the Censor Board and the Supreme Court and providing the state power over film exhibition which will potentially endanger freedom of expression. Now, with DMK dropping its hat into the ring, the issue has acquired a political colour.
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