Opinion Express View: ‘Empuraan’ makers’ voluntary modifications sets a disquieting precedent

This is how it usually goes. After a film is made and before it can be viewed by the public, it is sent to the Central Board of Film Certification. The CBFC is the body, as is evident from its name, that is responsible for issuing a certificate, after scrutiny, which makes the film eligible for release. Like other films, L2: Empuraan, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, too, went through this process. Yet, days after its release on March 27, on the heels of a controversy over its alleged “divisive political agenda”, the film’s makers sought to make “voluntary modifications”, and in effect, re-censor their film. It sets a troubling precedent of preemptive or anticipatory self-censorship, and raises sobering questions about a shrinking space for artistic expression in the country.

The outrage over Empuraan, emanating mostly from social media users and sections of the Sangh Parivar, centres on the film’s depiction of the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat, on the watch of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, with many decrying it as an attempt to “malign Hinduism”. Significantly, the BJP, in what may be a stance specific to Kerala where films have rarely shied away from political themes or in what bodes a larger shift in the party’s approach to politically-sensitive cinema, has seemed to distance itself from the issue. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the new chief of the party’s state unit, has described the controversy as “manufactured” and argued that “cinema should be seen as cinema, and not history”. Notwithstanding the BJP’s reticence, however, the response of the team behind Empuraan — star Mohanlal and producer Gokulam Gopalan have issued apologies and signalled willingness to change dialogues or scenes that may have “pained anyone” — paints a picture of a larger filmmaking ecosystem that is increasingly stalked by contrived spectres of “hurt sentiments”. Not too long ago, they stalled the release of Emergency, directed by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, and led to vandalism and threats in the case of films like Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat and Rajkumar Hirani’s PK.

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In responding the way they did, the makers of Empuraan are exhibiting self-censorship. This is deeply disturbing. It suggests that artistic expression must now be calibrated to guard against the potential offence an artistic work may cause. This narrows the space for the artist, and hands a veto power to the noisy mob and the lumpen fringe.