IFFI director asks 'S Durga' maker to submit censored version

Panaji: International Film Festival of India’s (IFFI) festival director Sunit Tandon has asked “S Durga” filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan to submit the censored version of the movie in 35mm print.

In a letter written to Sasidharan yesterday, Tandon, who has been avoiding talking to the media on the controversy, also asked the filmmaker to submit a copy of the censor certificate, along with two DVD copies to IFFI.

The move comes after the Kerala High Court on Friday declined to stay a single bench order to screen the Malayalam film, which is mired in controversy, at the Indian Panorama section of the ongoing festival.

In the appeal, the government had stated that the film, though selected by the jury, had not secured the exemption as required by the Panorama regulation in the absence of any certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

It was also contended by the Centre that the inclusion of the film is likely to upset the arrangements of the 48th IFFI, which comes to a close on November 28. Sasidharan had moved the court after the film was dropped from the festival’s Panorama section, along with the Marathi film “Nude”. “S Durga” narrates the horrifying experience of a hitchhiking couple.