Why censor sword in OTT movies

Many questions are being raised after director Raihan Rafi’s new web film ‘Amimansit’ got stuck at the censor board due to the similarity of the story with a sensational murder of a century ago.

The question that is being discussed more – what if the censor board clearance is required for web movies too?

Talking to the officials and lawyers of the Ministry of Information, it is known that in the new law, the rules for obtaining clearance from the Censor Board have also been laid down in the case of web movies. But the film makers as well as the Censor Board members are not aware of that.

Shahidul Alam Sacchu is the producer of the movie ‘Unsolved’ on behalf of Fazlul Haque Institute of Media Studies. On February 29, OTT platform iScreen had announced the release of ‘Undecided’. But the date was pushed back due to Censor Board objections. Then the release was announced as a special Eid surprise. That didn’t happen later either.

Censor board members examined the movie on March 4. It was then re-examined by board members on April 22 for further scrutiny. After re-verification, a detailed discussion about the film was held in the board meeting.

In the end, the deputy director of the Censor Board gave the producer Shahidul Alam Sacchu on Wednesday. A letter signed by Moinuddin stated that the film was ‘not suitable for showing’ in public.

Why this decision? The Censor Board says, “It contains scenes of brutal murder. The content of fiction, screenplay and dialogues are similar to reality. Such incidents have actually occurred and cases related to incidents are pending in the High Court. The plot/content of the film being similar to the pending case may give wrong message and hamper the investigation.”

Censor Board did not clarify this decision in the letter due to similarity with any real incident. However, a member of the board told Glitz that the Sagar-Rooney murder is similar to the story of this movie. Sagar-Rooney murder is now under trial in court. That is why the objection has been raised from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

What is the point of objection of the Ministry of Interior? Glitz called Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Senior Secretary of Public Security Department of Home Ministry Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman to inquire about this, but they did not get a response.

What’s in the movie?

“Who killed Arnav and Neeruk? Who are the masked people? What unravels this unsolved mystery at all?”

On February 13, filmmaker Raihan Rafi wrote this post on Facebook, revealing the teaser and poster of the movie ‘Unsolved’.

After the release of the teaser, it can be seen from some comments on social media, they are pointing towards the murder of the famous journalist couple Sagar-Rooney.

On February 11, 2012 Sagar Sarwar, news editor of private TV channel Machranga and his wife Mehrun Rooney, a senior reporter of ATN Bangla, were murdered in a rented house in West Rajabazar of the capital. Law and order forces have not been able to solve the murder mystery even today.

The 40-second teaser presents some ideas about the assassination in the form of written dialogue. They read like this – ‘The murders took place between about 1:30 am and 2 am. I think it’s a robbery case…’; ‘Journalists, neighbors, relatives all destroyed the crime zone signs. What was I to do’; ‘No one killed them. They killed themselves’; ‘It’s definitely a strange case! Otherwise that day…’.

As seen in the poster of the movie, Imtiaz Barshan and Tanjika Amin are playing the lead roles. Behind them stood some men, whose faces were tied with black cloth. Who are they? The answer to this was supposed to be in the original film.

When asked whether the movie is about Sagar-Rooney’s murder, director Raihan Rafi told Glitz, “Because it is a journalist’s story, some people are saying that it is about Sagar-Rooney’s incident. That is why the censor board wants to watch the movie. I don’t know why they have stopped it now.”

Riaz Ahmed, project director of OTT platform iScreen, said, “This is not a movie about Sagar-Rooney’s murder. If there is a partial match, then whether it should be stopped, I don’t know.”

Why ‘unresolved’ censors?

After the release of the teaser of the movie ‘Amimansit’ on February 12, discussions started in connection with Sagar-Rooney’s murder. In that context, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered to submit the movie to the Censor Board on February 19.

It is said in the letter that there is an obligation to get certification from the Bangladesh Film Censor Board before broadcasting any film in any medium.

Until now, there was a common perception among film and program makers that the obligation may not apply to content on OTT platforms.

However, it is said by the ministry, “Bangladesh Film Certification Act 2023 has been enacted by repealing the Censorship of Films Act, 1963 for various reasons, including the protection, development, conservation, family and social values ​​of the domestic film industry; Which has already been published in Gazette form.”

According to sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the said Act, the film is asked to be submitted to the Censor Board and directed to obtain a Censor Certificate from the Bangladesh Film Censor Board before releasing it on the OTT platform iScreen.

“Unsolved” sources said, “Through the film’s teaser and various media reports, it has been revealed that the film is based on an under-investigation. If the film named ‘Amimansit’ made on such subject under investigation is released on OTT platform iScreen on 29-02-2024, it may disrupt the investigation process. For that reason, it is advisable to obtain a censor certificate from the Bangladesh Film Censor Board before releasing a film on the subject under investigation on the OTT platform iScreen.

After learning that the movie is not getting the censor certificate, Riaz Ahmed, project director of iScreen told Glitz, “After we finished all the plans to release the movie on February 29, we were given a letter from the censor board, they will watch the movie. We submit the movie accordingly in compliance with the law. Now the Censor Board has said that the movie is not suitable for screening. Why was this decision made? don’t know We will appeal.”

However, within 30 days of receiving the letter, there is an opportunity to appeal to the government against this decision, Deputy Director of the Censor Board told Glitz. Moinuddin.

Censor Board member and film producer Khorshed Alam Khosru says that the board members have declared the film ‘unfit’ based on their collective opinion. But why the web movie is censored, it is not understandable to him.

He told Glitz, “Normally, the movies that are released in theaters have to get clearance from the censor board. But I don’t know if we need to get permission from the Censor Board for web movies too.”

He commented, “If the movie was released in OTT, why has it been submitted to the censor board? They could have already released it on OTT.”

Glitz spoke to Supreme Court lawyer Tanjim Al Islam about this. He said that since the government repealed the ‘Censorship of Films Act’ of 1963 and made it ‘Bangladesh Film Certification Act 2023’, web films or OTT films are also covered.

“Web movies will also now have to get Censor Board clearance under the new law. The Censor Board has declared the ‘unresolved’ film unfit for screening, according to law.”

The law states, “Bangladesh Film Certification Board shall constitute a board to examine and certify films produced in Bangladesh, imported foreign films, films produced by a Bangladeshi person at home or abroad, and films produced in co-productions for the purpose of public exhibition in any medium.” “

There are more questions

Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh General Secretary Belayat Hossain Mamun questioned the way in which ‘unresolved’ is being said to be blocked in the new law.

He told Glitz, “If the government had enacted the Film Certification Act and it had been gazetted, then the Censor Board should have been abolished and replaced by the Film Certification Board.

“And if there is a certification board, no film is supposed to be blocked This is the concept of certification law On the other hand, the old censorship law does not mention ‘censoring’ web content Not even supposed to stay So how does the Censorboard censor or censor web content?”

Filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury says, “It is neither possible nor reasonable to bring web films under the censorship law. The content we see on YouTube or social media is also a type of web content. OTT is an international platform. Anyone can provide content online even from outside the country if they want.”

Amitabh Reza said, “If any content is harmful to the society, the government can stop it in various ways. There are many other laws for this. But why do web films need to get permission from the censor board for this?”

And when so much OTT content is being made in the country, where foreign content is seen in the country, why ‘unresolved’ movies are asked to get permission from the censor board, Amitabh Reza also raised the question.

Raihan Rafi, the film’s producer, has questioned the reasoning behind ‘Unsolved’ being shelved.

He said, “No journalist couple can be killed in any movie? If a girl goes missing and is killed in the movie, it will be matched with Tanu of Comilla? In the movie, if the body of a teenager is found in the river, it will be matched with the murder of Narayanganj? How about these?”

Commenting that the movie ‘Unsolved’ did not prove anything, the filmmaker told Glitz, “It was just showing different people’s ideas, but it’s really sad that the movie has been shelved.”

The question is whether there should be a censor board in the online free market. Film Censor Appellate Board member Nasir Uddin Yusuf himself wants abolition of censor rules.

Earlier, when the movie ‘Shanibar Bikkel’ directed by Mustafa Sarayar Faruqi was blocked from the censor board, the former president of the Sammilita Sanskultur Jota was involved in the movement.

He told Glitz, “I think movies should not be censored. However, there may be a grading process. Where it is a kind of movie, it will be mentioned first. There may be gradings such as whether the movie is suitable for children or suitable for adults. There should be no sensors.”

Nasir Uddin Yusuf said, “The government has various powers to stop anything harmful to the society. But for that there is no need to bring web movies under the censor too.”

When Censor Board Vice Chairman Khaleda Begum was called to seek answers to these questions, she refused to comment.

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Humayun Kabir Khondkar said in response to Glitz’s query, “According to the new law, from now on any film to be screened in any medium will require a censor certificate. That’s why the ‘unsolved’ film was seen by the Censor Board members and decided.”

The name of the sensor board is changing

Film Societies of Bangladesh General Secretary Belayat Hossain Mamun’s question was answered by information secretary Humayun Kabir.

He said, according to the new law, the name of the Film Censor Board is changing. It will be named ‘Bangladesh Film Certification Board’.

“A new board will soon be formed as per the law. The board, which was called the Film Censor Board, will be the Certification Board.”

An official of the ministry’s legal department told bdnews24.com that the board’s procedures have not been formalized yet. Apart from the rules, the tasks that can be done are being done. The new board will be formed only after the rules are finalised. The rules may be finalized within a week.

Regarding the formation of the board, the law states that the board will be formed with a chairman and not more than 14 members. The Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will be the Chairman of the Board. The term of the board will be one year. However, the existing board will continue to function until the next board assumes office. The procedure of the Board shall be prescribed by rules.

Functions of the Board states, “In carrying out the purposes of this Act, the functions of the Board shall be, “to receive applications for the purpose of granting certification of films. Classification and certification of films with rating symbols. Suspension or cancellation of certification of film. Approval of promotional materials for films. Certification of co-production films. Approval and certification of import and export of films. Perform any other function assigned by the Government, from time to time.”

Old news:

‘Unresolved’ display not useful: sensor board

Raihan Rafi’s ‘Unsolved’ Why did the Censor Board block?

How to resolve the ‘unresolved’ complexities, the answer does not match