'The Narendra Modi government should trust filmmakers'

Hitlist What does the film industry including you all hope from the new Modi governmentPrasoon Joshi Changes in the business side are important The government could start by reducing entertainment tax I donrsquot think we were particularly free and liberal in the past so I donrsquot see drastic changes happening there Hopefully this will be a decisive governmentAlso read Censor Board axes AliaVarun kiss from Karan Johars nextFrom left Rohan Sippy Prahlad Kakar JD Majethia Tejiswini Kolhapure Ajit Andhare Vikas Bahl Mukesh Bhatt Prasoon Joshi and Subhash Ghai PicsShadab KhanAjit Andhare The film industry must be treated as anindustry firstRohan Sippy Interestingly Sushma Swaraj was the one who first accorded the industry status to Bollywood back in 1998 Now that theyrsquore back they will hopefully implement itAjit Andhare Absolutely After being recognised as an industry it should be treated as one too How will you encourage the industry Look at your tax regime Is it uniform Letrsquos take the issue of entertainment tax which is 35 per cent or higher Earlier theatres underreported their revenues because the system was fragmented and disorganised The entertainment tax helped them maximise returns Now we must either eliminate the tax or bring it down to be in line with other industries You cannot have VAT service tax and a high entertainment tax And if the tax is high what is the governmentrsquos investment back into the industry to improvethe economicsHowever I would not like to see the same level of involvement by the government when it comes to content Content is about liberty and freedom of expression Within that the only area I would want the government to intervene on is when it concerns the Censor Board If say the Board censors a movie the government of the day should do everything to ensure its screening If the government does not have the power to help a certified movie screen in cinemas Irsquod say the lawandorder situationis fracturedAlso read Bollywood films that faced opposition other than Censor BoardPrahlad Kakar The government never takes the movie industry seriously because of the way the Censor Board is structured You have an eminent person as the head and the rest are ministersrsquo wives MPsrsquo cousins and so on Why are they there Because they want to watch free movies Some of them are illiterate The Censor Board should sack the current members and get sociologists historians and academicianson boardWill the Narendra Modi government stifle creative freedom in the name of preserving Indian culture Filmmakers and actors prefer to wait and watchPrasoon Joshi But how will that be done People who believe in freedom of expression donrsquot want to be on the Censor BoardPrahlad Kakar Because they think itrsquos not right to censor creative expression But again not all these filmmakersare liberalPrasoon Joshi Should the government have any right to censor at all Other countries donrsquot have it mdash why do we need it in India Should there be a government board or another regulating bodyRohan Sippy Television for instance is not censoredJD Majethia I think policies will be progressive now Modi did not ban a Gujarati play called Aa NaMo Saho Nade Che NaMo Fights With EveryoneHitlist But in a democratic country that is basic freedom is it notRohan Sippy Ideally yesMukesh Bhatt What JD said is heartening because I have not had a good experience with the BJP My film Zakhm 1998 was banned It revolved around the 1993 riots in Mumbai Everybody knows the saffron brigade was a problem and we were told to change the colour of a band used in the film mdash from saffron to maroon My brother Mahesh Bhatt did not compromise because the film was close to his heart Back then Ashaji Parekh was the chairman of the Censor Board The film went on to get a National Award for its theme of national integrity The old guard was different Now the fear is of the government becoming a cultural dictator In his inaugural speech Modi spoke about progress and development Progress also means not clipping wings of creativity expression must not be choked and suffocated Give us the freedom of speech Thatrsquos a fundamental right in democracy We should see to it that there is no cultural control on cinemaHitlist How do we do thatMukesh Bhatt You should be given the creative freedom to make whatever film you wantPrahlad Kakar That is a utopian ideaMukesh Bhatt It is okay as long as itrsquos not something that is going to affect the national integrity of the country and nothing that hurts the religious sentiments of any community We are sensible people but there will be people who misuse the freedom In the last five years the Censor Board has come a long way True the board should not consist of friends of ministers and their wives But I do feel that thingshave improvedHitlist Are things really as good as you say they are The last few years have seen many bans in spite of the getting a clearance from the Censor BoardMukesh Bhatt Hopefully the Cinematographerrsquos Act will be implemented soon Javed Akhtar and I have had a great debate on that We have raised these bans as a critical issue I know what problems we faced during Aarakshan and VishwaroopamAjit Andhare We couldnrsquot release Madras Cafeacute which was certified by the board To me thatrsquos a failing of the law If we have a Censor Board like Prahlad says it must be wellconstituted If a Censor Board had issued a certificate does the government have the right to ban a filmMukesh Bhatt Prakashrsquos film was cleared in Maharashtra as I had spoken to Chhagan Bhujpal and even Prithviraj Chavan Everything seemed okay But suddenly in Latur and Aurangabad a local cop instructed not to screenthe movieAjit Andhare This is what we are talking about Why do you have to speak to a Bhujpal if the film has been certified by the Censor BoardMukesh Bhatt This is because the judiciary is also confused Sometimes they say it is a problem of the Centre other times they point to the State When the judiciary comes in the government becomes handicapped The judiciary should be introspectedAjit Andhare Which was the last film the judiciary blocked The problem is with vested political interests in the state government that bans the filmMukesh Bhatt We have mentioned in the new Cinematographers Act that if anyone has a problem with a film they should appeal to the tribunal Itrsquos the tribunalrsquos duty to find a solution There should be a tribunal in every state not just in Delhi and it should hold the final authorityPrasoon Joshi There has to be a political will that if someone tries to sabotage a film he shouldnrsquot be allowed to do so I suggest that representatives of the film industry should voice our concerns and have an open dialogue with the governmentJD Majethia We have a fantastic representation in the Parliament from the industry this time We should address these issues before they impose new ruleson usPrasoon Joshi There are two aspects to be considered here mdash the business part and the artistic expression While it is easy to address business issues it is the artistic expression that will face difficulties which cannot be handled by one certification If you have a creative voice a countervoice is equally importantRohan Sippy The media should frame these things correctly at the time of release Rather than looking for sensational headlines they should be framed as criminal acts The media also puts pressure They justify the stand of the illegal protestors which motivates themJD Majethia Today even producers have thought of taking the advantage of a controversy When a film is about to release they feel that a sensational news will give it mileage The need of the hour is to have our industry representatives in the houseVikas Bahl I donrsquot think those elected from the film fraternity are going to stand up for the entertainment industry They have their own vested interestsJD Majethia I have known Paresh Rawal as a theatre person If you put your case correctly in front of him he will fight for usMukesh Bhatt Shatrughan Sinha is a vocal man tooVikas Bahl Do you believe that things are actually changingPrasoon Joshi This is a huge victory Would that reflect that the change of discourse would automatically reflect the way you create entertainment the way you make art Would it reflect in the way you do businessVikas Bahl The important thing is the basis on which they have won For the first time elections have been won on governance and not on caste and religious sentiments If you change the approach of running the country everything will changePrahlad Kakar There is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed The kind of people who have voted for Modi are essentially Hindi and vernacular Therefore they are far more conservative than the pseudointellectual elitePrasoon Joshi Thatrsquos being judgmentalVikas Bahl Riding the elections is one thing running the country is another For the first time the reason why you fight elections and the reason why you will continue to succeed is the same And that changed a lot because of Arvind KejriwalPrahlad Kakar Letrsquos look at all the BJPruled states You think Karnataka didnrsquot have a spate of moral policing There has to be a political will at the Centre to say this wonrsquot be tolerated RSS won because of BJPrsquos scaly structure but we are all hoping that thatrsquos not the case The RSS is going to get stronger We all hope that Modi understands that the youth and the population is going to scrutinise every move of the new governmentAjit Andhare I think the central question is will this rightwing extremism lunatic fringe get the kind of importance that it can control the cultural discourse Will it trickle down to the kind of content that is getting shaped in the country Personally I would not worry about this for the following reasons I look at the state of Gujarat I see no khaps nor moral policing there I see a fouryearold steady government It gives me confidence that Togadia has been externed from Gujarat There is grand symbolism in Narendra Modirsquos speeches post the elections But the ritual of the Ganga aarti was just that a Hindutva symbolHitlist Hope it stays that wayAjit Andhare Like Vikas pointed out his central idea has always been of development So as long as there is a balanced approach I donrsquot think we need to worry so much about the right wingPrasoon Joshi When people say lsquoNarendra Modi jitna jeeta hai utna nahi jeet sakte hairsquo there is sense of denial And I donrsquot want that sense of denial in the industryIn the last three months when my agency handled the campaign people thought the campaign led to the victory But no the campaign didnrsquot do the work mdash it only said lsquoAbki baar Modi sarkarrsquo The mood of the nation got reflected in the electoratersquos decisionBut how should we keep practicing as free artistes I suggest an open forum for those who are going to govern us and the creative industry It is important that the industryrsquos fears and views are heard and tabled at the forumAjit Andhare What worries us are statements by people like Mithilesh Tripathi mdash he said they will look into whether the creative media is in line with Indian culture mdash that statement is scaryVikas Bahl Our biggest problem right now is that we have a really warped sense of fear and fearlessness At one level we are scared of so many things because there is no one protecting us There are so many things beyond the control of law and order If I for instance take a film to the Censor Board they may disapprove a film out of the fear that someone is going to protest somewhere At the same time there is always someone whorsquos going to stand up and be fearless about what hersquos going to do about his reaction to the film This imbalance is largely because there is no clarity Who protects whom Who can stand up for anything What is the government to do What is their standPrasoon Joshi I think it is wrong to say they will give clarityVikas Bahl Prasoon most of our solutions are so superficial If we are looking at the recent elections as a revolution I think everything has to thought of in terms of lsquo10 years from nowrsquo These elections are not important The elections five years from now are importantMukesh Bhatt What will you do if the state is against your film but the Centre has supported and even given it a certificate Prakash Jharsquos film Aarakshan was banned by Mayawati I spoke to Manish Tewari and he said the film should be released We approached the Supreme Court and the film was released two or three weeks later But by then the damage was done The state manipulates and is the opposition If the state government is not the same as the one at the centre then for the sake of political vendetta they will do something Movie bans have nothing to do with you or meVikas Bahl About 70 per cent of state governments is the same as the one ruling at the centre There was always confusion about whether we should vote for the centre or the local guy So what if in the next couple of years we start voting for the centre for the first time That will be a huge change in the way people votePrasoon Joshi This is impractical India is a diverse nation You canrsquot say there is a uniform code of culture running through the countryVikas Bahl Itrsquos about governance If something has to be implemented can it be implemented in the country or notJD Majethia We are talking about state law and order A film like Ram Leela in the best of governance got 26 out of 26 but they could not do anything because one religious community got offended What is the government going to do about thatVikas Bahl But there is a difference between cultural difference of opinion and the vested interest We are unable to differentiate between the twoPrasoon Joshi Vested interest should be kept aside The government shouldnrsquot interfere with that For instance if a theatre owner of a certain community decides to not run a film in his theatre explaining that its his theatre and that the film is not in tune with his sensibilities then itrsquos his choiceVikas Bahl We are unable to figure out the difference between vested interest and a genuine cultural difference of opinion In Queen because I showed the prostitute as a Muslim girl the Censor Board asked me if I want to go ahead with the film because there might be a dharna outside my house And I said go with it It didnrsquot become an issue The Censor Board was supportivePrasoon Joshi After Bhaag Milkha Bhaag I was told that the end of the film is manipulated and that I have shown that hersquos won in Pakistan I was asked ldquoUski life mein Olympics important hona chahiye Jab ki aapne Pakistan ko important dikhaaya Are you being artistically manipulativerdquo How do you answer such questions What do you do if someone blames you for exploiting a cultural differenceAjit Andhare The question is who draws the lineVikas Bahl Meddling is the problem I remember in Kaminey something was written on the door mdash Baba Bhole Nath mdash and those people stood up You really donrsquot know if they genuinely mean it or whether itrsquos for mileageAjit Andhare All we want is the government to provide us with law and order so that those with vested interests will not be able to disrupt filmsPrasoon Joshi Thatrsquos why I am saying we should go the new government with our issuesSubhash Ghai I would like to know one thing What is your fearPrahlad Kakar Our fear is the fringe folks like the Bajrang DalMukesh Bhatt We should be on our guard We shouldnrsquot like be Alice in Wonderland Jab aayega tab dekhengeTejaswini Kolhapure It is too early to preempt anything mdash all eyes are on Modi The BJP manifesto is pretty impressive I hope freedom of speech expression and creativity isnrsquot hampered I donrsquot want old wine in a new bottleSubhash Ghai The censorship issue has remains unresolved since the past 40 years and I donrsquot see things improving in the next 40 years either Cinema is a democratic art mdash you will have both good and bad filmmakers The difference in the sensibilities of the Censor Board and filmmakers will not disappear anytime soon The Board wants us to censor ourselves and we donrsquot want to do that either because individual expression is subjective How does one censor onersquos own project thenPrasoon Joshi Let them know that wersquore not a bunch of irresponsible people Interacting with them will make them realise that they can trust usSubhash Ghai Based on my personal talk with a few BJP leaders I feel this time they are receptive because they are coming after 10 years They really have to look into this with a fresh mandate They will definitely approach the industry with a more open mindJD Majethia Their mindset is progressiveVikas Bahl I remember the way Kai Po Che happened and the way the government supported it I remember Gattu going there and meeting the government And they did not ask him ldquoWhat is your script How are you going to promote GujaratrdquoRohan Sippy Rang De Basanti got wiped out because of that They were banned by BJP There was another film that the Gujarati exhibitors banned mdash FanaaJD Majethia That was because of Aamirrsquos Narmada statementHitlist Itrsquos good to be hopeful but the fact remains that the governmentrsquos entertainment cell will look into the cultural content in filmsMukesh Bhatt That is not acceptableJD Majethia How you percieve it is also important Modi connects with the youth and as the convenor of the BJPrsquos Cultural Cell he is only trying to make his job description betterPrasoon Joshi I think Modi is open to suggestions provided they are given immediatelyVikas Bahl If someone claims that hisher film promotes Indian culture and pays 40 per cent subsidy whatrsquos wrong with that It happens everywherePrasoon Joshi But the definition of culture is subjective When you make a film on a dog fight will you consider it to be a film showcasing the culture of Latin America Culture isnrsquot religionAjit Andhare If you can actually promote cultural discourse on a global level it will help fix industry issuesPrasoon Joshi Itrsquos more complicated than thatAjit Andhare I am sure itrsquos complex But I hope this government ponders over what we are sayingMukesh Bhatt China collects five per cent entertainment tax and the government doesnrsquot use it for any other purpose Instead it invests that money to open more theatres China has got more than 50000 theatres Wersquove got 12500 theatres out of which 6000 screen regional cinema Our fate is decided on weekends by 5500 theatresJD Majethia Today TV has become a medium of spreading awareness All TV shows begin with outdoor shoots but eventually go back to the studios which reduces the entertainment quotient Training institutes in major cities lack infrastructure This country is full of talent but only the few who have access to this city get a platform There are taxfree benefits for films based on social issues If similar policies are introduced to revive Doordarshan or incentives are given to satellite channels we will have more shows like Satyamev JayateHitlist To sum it up are we more optimistic than fearful of the new regimeEveryone YesModerated by Shubha ShettySahaTranscribed by Shreya Agarwal