BhubaneswarA day after canceling a film festival scheduled at Cuttack’s Ravenshaw University without assigning any reason, the institute authorities on Friday allowed the students to hold it with a condition.
According to a university official, the organizers were asked to drop two films ‘Had Anhad’ and ‘Gay India Matrimony’ from the line-up prepared for the festival.
Vice-Chancellor Sanjay K Nayak was not available for his comment on the whole matter, but Dharmabrata Mohanty, public relations officer of the university, said, “Some students were against the screening of two films. We didn’t want any trouble and he was taken off the list.
A member of the university’s film society said the ceremony, which was scheduled to begin at 10.30 am on Friday, was canceled a day in advance by the authorities, allegedly due to an anonymous threat call.
He added that the decision led to huge protests outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office, which forced the authorities to reconsider the decision, but with certain conditions.
The three-day event, the first of its kind at the university, focuses primarily on filmmaker Satyajit Ray, with an exhibition commemorating him apart from other sessions involving other directors.
Ray’s masterpieces ‘Pather Panchali’ and ‘Charulata’ were among the 15 films selected for screening at the film festival.
Subha Sudarshan Nayak, secretary of the Ravenshaw Film Society, told PTI that ‘Pather Panchali’ was among the films that courted controversy on Thursday as some students objected to its screening.
“A section of students did not want ‘Pather Panchali’ to be screened initially, claiming the film romanticized poverty. The film was however screened today.”
He said the university later selected two other films from the list and canceled their screening.
Deblina Majumdar, director of Gay India Matrimony, termed the university’s decision as “painful and humiliating”.
“I don’t see any reason behind the decision to drop our film from the list at the last moment. ‘Gay India Matrimony’ has received the necessary clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification. We are exploring the option of approaching the Governor of Odisha, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of Ravenshaw University.
A group of students allegedly affiliated with a right-wing organisation, however, came out in support of the university authorities.
One of the students said, “We are opposing the screening of the films ‘Had Anhad’ and ‘Gay India Matrimony’ as they are against Indian culture.”
Sources at Ravenshaw University said authorities stopped the screening of the two films fearing possible unrest on campus.