“Denial of approval to <i>Kangal Malsat</i> political”

Film purportedly ‘maligns’ Singur land acquisition movement

After the Central Board of Film Certification here denied approval to Bengali film Kangal Malsat (War Cry of Beggars), its director Suman Mukhopadhyay on Sunday alleged the board had objected to the comments in the film on the movement against land acquisition in Singur.

Mr. Mukhopadhyay, told The Hindu that it was “dangerous for a democratic State to act in a manner where artists cannot be allowed to express their views freely.”

He has approached Film Certification Appellate Tribunal regarding the matter.

A letter to Mr. Mukhopadhyay from the regional office of the censor board states that the pull-out from Singur of Tata Motors has been portrayed in a way that “seems to malign or at least look down upon a significant movement of civic society.”

Haranath Chakraborty, a member of the censor board said that there was no political reason behind the denial of certification to the film. “From beginning to end, the characters use offensive language. The director was asked to delete some dialogues, which he refused,” he said.

The film is an adaptation of the novel by Nabarun Bhattacharya published in 2003.