Don’t think censorship holds any importance in today’s day and age says Chandan Roy Sanyal

By News Helpline, Mumbai - 22nd October, 2019

Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal, who next will be seen onscreen in a Bengali film titled ‘Urojahaj’ (The Flight) feels that censorship does not hold any importance in today’s day and age as audience of every age group has been exposed to all kind of content through their smart phones and internet connection.

Chandan Roy Sanyal was interacting with the media to promote ‘Urojahaj (The Flight) on Friday in Mumbai.

Chandan Roy Sanyal has featured in films like ‘Kaminey’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘F.A.L.T.U’, ‘Jazbaa’, ‘Chef’ and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ in his career.

When asked Sanyal what are his thoughts on censorship in films and digital platforms, he said, “I don’t think censorship is important. Nowadays, everyone has a smart phone and internet connection. When we were growing up then we only used to watch Doordarshan. We used to watch some serials, Chitrahaar (musical show) and weekly film on it. We used to play outdoor games and we used to go gaming centers to play video games but now children has everything on their phones so, they are exposed to everything which is out there so, I don’t think censorship holds any importance in today’s day and age.”

Sanyal added that audience should be given freedom to watch the content of their own choice, he said, “I think audience should have the freedom about what they want to watch and what they don’t want watch. I think parental guidance is one thing which can be adopted. If parents don’t want their kids to watch certain content which has violence or sexual content or cuss words then, they (parents) should take decision about it and to implement censorship on the entire society is not a best thing in today’s world.”

Chandan Roy Sanyal has also worked in web series like ‘Parchhayee’ and ‘Bhram’ which aired on Zee5.

There are number of examples in our country where historical films have got into certain kind of controversy regarding its authenticity. Upcoming historical films like ‘Panipat’ and ‘Tanhaji- The Unsung Warrior’ are recent examples of it where makers of these films have been threaten by certain fringe groups, talking about these issues, Sanyal had a very neutral point of view, he said, “I feel the ideal scenario of making films is where you don’t feel pressurized about showing anything - it can be nudity, sexual relationships, cuss words and you have the freedom to tell stories of bolder and taboo subjects. But then, the question arises that how to limit those things. If you have given freedom then, it’s not that you can go to any extent.”

Sanyal pointed out that Indian film industry is more liberated that Iranian film industry, he said, “In Iranian films, you are not allowed to show such things. It (Iranian film industry) has more restrictions than Indian film industry which includes Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Konkani, Bhojpuri, Kannada and Hindi. We make thousands of film every year so, I think online platforms gives you that kind of space and freedom but we have tell our stories with certain amount of self- responsibility and care because each thing has its own dignity so, we should keep that in mind and we shouldn’t do unfair use of it just because we have been given freedom on digital platforms otherwise, we will lose importance of those projects.”

Sanyal starrer ‘Urojahaj’ premiered at Mumbai film festival last year has also travelled to film festivals across the world like the New York Indian Film Festival and BFI London. It also got standing ovation at Kolkata International Film Festival 2019 (KIFF).

Talking about audience feedback at film festivals for his upcoming Bengali film, Sanyal said, “I am feeling really happy that we have got really good feedback for the film because generally, my films don’t work or it doesn’t get a proper release so, people don’t watch it in theatres.  This film of mine was screened at Kolkata Film Festival and there were around 1100 people who were watching the film. People gave standing ovation and applauded our effort and that was my biggest achievement in 10-15 years of my career.”

He added, “I haven’t played lead roles in many of films which I did and films in which I played a lead part didn’t released so people never saw those films. We have seen that generally lead actors of the film get all the attention and applause and I am playing lead role in this film so, the kind of appreciation I am getting for my character in the film, it feels very special.”

Talking about basic story-line of ‘Urojahaj’ (The Flight), Sanyal said, “It’s a story of garage mechanic who works in a small village and lives with his wife and son but his dream is to fly. He wants to travel the world with his family but he doesn’t have the money. One day, he finds an airplane and he thinks that he will repair it so that, he can go to different places with his family. And when he start working towards it, then people of the village makes fool of him.  So, the morale of the story is when a person dreams big then, people think of him as mad and that’s the basic concept of film.”

Directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta, ‘Urojahaj’ (The Flight) also stars Parno Mittra and Sudipto Chatterjee in important roles.

It is slated for a theatrical release on December 13.