New Delhi: The BBC documentary, ‘India: The Modi Question’, isn’t the first documentary to court controversy in India. The documentary has set off a political storm in the country.
Here’s a look at some other documentaries that ruffled government feathers as compiled by India Today:
Final Solution
Directed by Rakesh Sharma, ‘Final Solution’ depicted that the Gujarat violence had been carefully coordinated and planned. It was based on interviews with survivors and witnesses on both sides of the communal divide.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) banned the documentary for being “provocative” and over concerns that it could trigger communal violence and radicalism. Sharma was reported to have said that then censor board chairperson Anupam Kher, as a BJP supporter, did not give the documentary clearance during the NDA regime. The ban was eventually lifted in October 2004, after the Congress-led UPA assumed office at the Centre.
The documentary went on to win the National Award in the Special Jury Award (non-feature film) category. It also scooped up many honours at international film festivals.
India’s Daughter
In 2015, another BBC documentary courted controversy. Leslee Udwin’s ‘India’s Daughter’, part of the BBC’s Storyville series, was based on the infamous Nirbhaya gang rape and murder in Delhi.
After excerpts of the film, including parts of the interview with one of the rapists, Mukesh, was aired, police got a court stay order prohibiting the broadcast of the documentary. BBC complied and didn’t screen it in India. When it was broadcast abroad and made its way to India through YouTube, the government directed the video-sharing platform to block the documentary in India.
The blanket ban on the BBC documentary led to heated debates in Parliament, with Opposition lawmakers questioning the government’s move. Then Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said there was a “conspiracy to defame India”, while Rajya Sabha MP Javed Akhtar countered with: “It’s good this documentary has been made. If any one finds it objectionable, they should change their mindset.”
Ram Ke Naam
Filmed in 1992, the documentary probes the campaign by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The film was critically acclaimed nationally and internationally, winning the National Film Award for Best Investigative Documentary and the Filmfare Award for Best Documentary. The government banned the documentary from being telecast on Doordarshan as it was considered “hurtful to religious sentiments”.
Inshallah, Football
This 2010 documentary on a young Kashmiri footballer who aspired to play in Brazil but was denied access to a passport as his father was a former militant. It won several awards but faced government clampdown.
Even though this Ashvin Kumar documentary got an A certificate from the Censor Board, it restrained the screening just before its scheduled release, reportedly because the film also dealt with general life in the Valley in the presence of the Army.
The filmmaker screened Inshallah, Football for viewing by select audiences and released a password-protected print online. He went on to make another film, Inshallah, Kashmir and released it online to bypass the censor board.
Calcutta, Phantom India
The broadcast of two of Louis Malle’s documentaries – Calcutta and Phantom India — on British television sparked outrage amongst the Indian diaspora and drew a sharp reaction from the Indian government. Both documentaries showed sketches of everyday life in India, which the Indian government perceived as prejudicial and something that showed the country in a negative light. As a result, the BBC was expelled from India until 1972.
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