Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy seems to live by the motto if you cannot silence criticism, co-opt the critics. A year from now, when the Mumbai Film Festival takes off, the decision to choose films will be made by those very filmmakers who organised a parallel festival in protest last year, with a little help from the Ministry’s Film Division, the organisers.Vikalp — the banner under which documentary filmmakers perceived close to the Left foisted their films when the NDA insisted on getting them certified first — has been co-opted by the Government. Filmmakers Saba Dewan and Amar Kanwar have been asked to join the panel which will go into the selection of films for the festival. Also comprising the list of decision-makers are noted filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli.The filmmakers had protested the decision of the then BJP-led NDA government for forcing them to obtain certification before showing their films — a move which was interpreted as censorship by them. Also, only Indian filmmakers were required to get their films certified by the Censor Board. The government’s explanation that certification was needed to put a date on the films, lacked conviction.It was seen as a move to not show films critical of the BJP government, specially those which focussed on Godhra came under the hammer. Protesting the move, many filmmakers organised a parallel show Vikalp — where films like Final Solutions were shown. In sheer defiance, the film was shown at the CPI headquarters Ajoy Bhavan.Of late, Reddy has been making moves with an eye to stave off criticism from the Left. His reconstitution of the Film Certificate Apellate Tribunal (FCAT) to rid it off BJP appointees, and his attempts to mollify the Left by coopting them in a committee set up to observe writer Munshi Premchand’s centenary celebrations are the various steps undertaken by him in the recent past.
