The Argumentative Indian: Pahlaj Nihalani calls trailer of Amartya Sen's documentary 'illegal'

It was earlier reported that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has asked Bengali filmmaker Suman Ghosh to beep out words like ‘cow’, ‘Gujarat’, ‘Hindu India’ and ‘Hindutva view of India’ in his documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, titled The Argumentative Indian. Now, Ghosh has unveiled the trailer of the documentary on his Facebook page and also shared it on Twitter. He said that while the film was not cleared for release by the CBFC on its scheduled date of 14 July, he is going to make up by launching the trailer instead.

While the trailer, which explores Sen’s life from Shanti Niketan to the contemporary times, received a positive response from viewers, CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani had a different take on the same. The Times of India reports that Nihalani referred to Ghosh’s Facebook post as ‘illegal’ since the trailer was released online without certification. The same report quotes him as saying, “The Cinematograph Act clearly states that certification is required for public exhibition. When a trailer is uploaded online, isn’t it being watched by people in buses, stations and trains? If anybody is uploading uncertified content without certification that can be viewed in public, it is a mistake.” However, The Telegraph quotes Ghosh as retorting, “I didn’t know about this. I would like to know which law he is citing. When I post something on YouTube, the whole world can see it. How can the censor board here dictate what the world will see? I have spoken to many industry people and they have told me there is no problem in posting a trailer on the Internet. I just wanted people to get a feel of the documentary in the trailer. The words that the censor board had asked me to beep out are not in the trailer.”