A controversy has erupted in Tollywood after the team of the ‘Academy of Fine Arts’, a film directed by Jayabrata Das, alleged that their movie is being deliberately blocked from release across theatres in West Bengal.
The actor claimed that despite having a valid censor certificate, their film was removed from all halls just a day before its scheduled release.
Earlier, the film director issued a statement in Bengali, “Amader independent chhobi-ke release korte deya hochhe na. Censor certificate thaka sattweo release-er ekdin age amader chhobi-ke samosto hall theke soriye deoya hoyeche. Jate konobhabei release korte na pari, sejonno samosto hall malik-er kachhe phone kore bishesh nirdesh deoya hochhe. Amra film school student-ra konodin-o bhabini je amader chaar bochorer porishrom-ke ei bhabe shesh kore deya hobe.”
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Which loosely translates, “Our independent film is not being allowed to be released. Despite having the censor certificate, our movie has been removed from all the halls just a day before its release. Special instructions are being given to hall owners over the phone to ensure that we cannot release it in any way. We, as film school students, never imagined that our four years of hard work would end like this.”
So far, there has been no official response from hall owners or authorities. Regarding this matter, the Academy of Fine Arts cinema’s actor Anindya Pulak Banerjee cites possible reasons.
“This movie explores this generation’s narrative, shares visual representation of violence, sex, etc., this cinema caters for the youth, it is not inspired by any written story like Chander Pahar or Feluda. Recently, Anik Dutta’s film Joto Kando Kolkatatei didn’t get enough halls; this is the same case,” he told News Ei Samay.
Anindya shares that the cinema had only 20 halls at first, which is very less, compared to the theatre listings in the ratio of present West Bengal halls. He expected that the audience would judge this pulp film, and then the independent cinema would flourish, but what’s happening is beyond imagination.
The situation again surfaces the growing challenges faced by independent filmmakers in Bengal, especially newcomers trying to tell their stories beyond mainstream structures- despite completing all legal procedures, including obtaining a censor certificate, their creative efforts are being suppressed through control over distribution.
