IFFI 2017: S Durga given nod by I&B ministry, to be screened on 27 November

After fighting it out in the court, S Durga has finally got a nod from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the film, directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, will be screened at 6 pm on Monday before the closing of IFFI, 2017, reports  Koimoi.com.

The director took to Twitter to make the announcement on 21 November.

S durga will be screened in IFFI...

— Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (@sanalsasidharan) November 21, 2017

S Durga, which was previously titled ‘Sexy Durga’, along with another film Nude, was dropped from the list of films to be screened at IFFI this year. It prompted Sujoy Ghosh and Apurva Asrani, two members of the jury, to resign from their posts.

“This is a victory for all of us. It is a proof that democracy can’t be killed and the law is for the people,” Sasidharan said, as quoted in a Republic report .

The win for S Durga was not achieved easily. Sasidharan filed a petition at the Kerala High Court after the film was dropped. The court directed IFFI to screen the film last Friday, and it also rejected the stay appeal on direction made by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

In an interview to The Quint, Sasidharan said , “It is like a tug of war between the government and the citizens. They are so adamant. It’s like they believe that it is a government festival and the government can do whatever it likes. This mindset questions our democracy. What is the point of a Constitution?”

Following the court’s ruling, the film fraternity expressed their happiness. Apurva Asrani tweeted, “Fantastic! The court has directed IFFI to screen #SexyDurga on the day #IndianPanorama is inaugurated.”

Sasidharan projected the state of women’s safety in India, focusing on patriarchal mindset of our society. It has Rajashri Despande as Durga and Kannan Nair cast opposite her as Kabeer.