3 min readBhubaneswarMar 4, 2023 06:29 PM IST
First published on: Mar 4, 2023 at 06:27 PM IST
The authorities of Ravenshaw University in Cuttack in Odisha, who had to drop two films— ‘Gay India Matrimony’ and ‘Had Anhad’— to be screened at the first-ever film festival at the university, said they had to scrap the movies to avoid any “trouble” on the campus.
The film festival, scheduled for three days from March 2, was first scrapped and later allowed after the two films on queer and spiritual themes were removed from the list following objection from a group of students with alleged Right-wing affiliations. The film festival ended Saturday.
The students reportedly opposed the screening of the two movies citing that they are against Indian culture.
Chairperson of the century-old university’s cultural council Dr Urmishree Bedamatta said the University authorities had absolutely no objection to the screening of any film.
“The two movies were dropped from the list of films to be screened because of some objection from a group of students. We did not want any escalation on the campus. Since the organisers (also students) had worked very hard for the film festival, we just wanted to hold it without any trouble,” Bedamatta told The Indian Express.
The organisers had taken due permission from the University administration for the film festival and had also briefed about the list of films to be screened and about the speakers participating in the film festival.
Bedamatta denied to comment when asked whether the students who raised objection to the two films belong to any political party but said they are also students of the university.
Neither the university authorities nor the cultural council filed any police complaint against anyone for such an objection. “We had informed the police to make sure that the film festival be held without any hassle,” she added.
The film festival was focussed on filmmaker Satyajit Ray as the organisers also put up an exhibition in his memory. Ray’s masterpieces ‘Pather Panchali’ was screened Friday while ‘Charulata’ was screened Saturday.
Subha Sudarsan Nayak, secretary of the university’s film society, a students’ body, said they had nothing wrong as all the films listed for screening during the three-day event, including the two which were dropped, were censor certified.
“Had they (Right-wing students) any objection, they should have challenged the censor board decision. Also, those who raised objections had made reviews of their own without even watching the movies. They should have watched the movies and participated in an open house discussion about their objection with the filmmakers, who also participated,” Nayak told The Indian Express.
Nayak said the University authorities should have taken a tough stand against such pressure tactics. “Hours before the scheduled beginning of the festival, we were stopped. When we met the vice chancellor, he said there was some ‘anonymous threat’ against some films,” he added.
Vice-chancellor of the Ravenshaw University Sanjay Nayak refrained from making any comment on the issue.
Ravenshaw University (Ravenshaw University.com) 
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