Pratibha Joy (BOMBAY TIMES; June 7, 2017)

Misses date with MAMI, cannot go to Tribunal because hasn't got an official rejection even after 40 days
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 7, 2015)



On August 27, Manu Kumaran screened his documentary, The Battle For Banaras, for the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in the hope of getting a quick clearance so that it could be screened at the 17th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Forty-one days later, Kumaran has yet to get a censor certificate. What's even more galling is that the CBFC has yet to officially communicate to the producer its reasons for rejecting the film.

This delay tactic, both unwanted and unprecedented, has cost the film a MAMI screening and pushed its theatrical release in India indefinitely. As director Kamal Swaroop points out, while a "censor certificate is not mandatory", by applying for one, "the equation has changed".

No local festival organiser or exhibitor will run the risk of screening it without a censor certificate after CBFC Chairperson, Pahlaj Nihalani, has run down the documentary in the media saying, "My officers told me that it is a political satire. It speaks against all politicians and is pro-Kejriwal (Arvind) in the way it has been shot. The language in the film is inflammatory."

Refuting this, Swaroop, a two-time National Award winner, for Phalke's Children (Best Historical Reconstruction, 1995) and Rangbhoomi (Best Non- Feature film, 2014), says that The Battle For Banaras was inspired by Nobel laureate Elias Canetti's book, Crowds and Power. "It is an attempt to understand the crowd phenomenon, anthropologically, without getting into voter politics," he argues, pointing out that people are talking not just about Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi in the film but also about 40 other candidates across political parties. "Of course the main face-off is between Modi and Kejriwal with the latter having a slight edge till the polarisation happened. Then, the Muslim votes went to him while Modi swept the Hindu votes, including the Dalits."

The film was shot in 4K over 44 days in Varanasi during the 2014 Lok Sabha general elections which pitted Modi against Kejriwal in a battle royal. Swaroop points out that most of the footage has already been seen on TV but when it is put together as a two-hour film and plays in the theatres, it becomes a document for posterity and that is perhaps what has the censors worried. "I guess their brief is that nothing against Modi or caste wars should be allowed, but sex and violence is not a problem. They think the film is objectionable because Modi is portrayed in bad light. That's not true. The narrative is neutral with no commentary or voice -over. We've only recorded it as a spectacle with the rhetoric coming from the political leaders. But in retrospect, the speeches may appear childish, even abusive. And party members could pull up the censors for allowing this to pass," he says.

Kumaran promises to fight this unjust censor ruling but Swaroop points out that only after they get the objections in writing, can they go to the Tribunal which is immune to political pressure so there's no fear of self censorship there.

The filmmaker who has also completed two other documentaries — one on painter Atul Dodiya and another on the exodus of Kashmiris from Srinagar — along with a 100-minute experimental feature, Tracing Phalke, informs that The Battle for Banaras, will play at the Dubai Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. "You don't need a certificate to screen it at international festivals. However, the film was made for our people and we want to show it to a national audience as well," he asserts.

When Mirror got in touch with Nihalani on why the Board has not officially communicating to the makers its objections to the documentary, he said curtly, "I see so many films, I don't remember this one so I can't comment on this."

Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; April 21, 2014)

Filmmaker Kamal Swaroop is gearing up for his next project, a documentary titled Battle Of Banaras. Focusing on the struggle for power in the holy heartland of Banaras, Swaroop has been travelling extensively in the city in a bid to meet and interview people for this documentary. Swaroop says, “I chose Banaras because it is definitely a battleground for power. Then again, I don’t see Kejriwal as a threat; to me, it’s a fight between the Congress and the BJP.”

Interestingly, most candidates contesting elections in Banaras this year are outsiders. Narendra Modi is from Gujarat; Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi, while Ajay Rai of the Congress is currently an MLA from Pindra, which is outside Banaras. Similarly, Samajwadi Party’s Kailash Chaurasiya is from Mirzapur.

A graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Kamal Swaroop has assisted Richard Attenborough on his film, Gandhi, and is currently working on the television series, The Life and Times of Dadasaheb Phalke.

His first feature film, Om Dar-Ba-Dar, was made in 1988 and it took 26 years to finally release in India.
Swaroop now plans to release the documentary in cinema halls as well. He says, “I am going to meet a senior journalist who will share with me the history of elections held in Banaras right from the year 1947 onwards.” The filmmaker also observes that while he finds Modi’s supporters to be more organised, ‘Kejriwal’s men are not’. Swaroop adds that he plans to premiere the film at the Cannes Film festival.
Manu Kumaran, the producer of the documentary, says, “People are keenly following the elections in Banaras and we will get to see this wave of interest through Kamal Swaroop’s film. The documentary will be a compelling proposition for global audiences,” he says.
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Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 22, 2014)

Kamal Swaroop, who won the National Award (Best Non-Feature Film) for Rangbhoomi, his biopic on the life of the late Dadasaheb Phalke, feels he could have made a better film. "I will go back to Rangbhoomi after a few years and make it more comprehensive," he says.

Presently,the filmmaker has parked himself in Varanasi, where he is shooting a 90-minute documentary on the on-going Lok Sabha election. "We are filming from 6 am till midnight, with three separate units tracking every party," he reveals.

With German author Elias Canetti's 1960 book, Crowds and Power, as its anchor, the film seeks to develop a connect between Varanasi's mythological personality and the battle of ballots among BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Aam Aadmi Party's leader Arvind Kejriwal and Congress' candidate Ajay Rai who are contesting from the constituency. The documentary titled Battle of Banaras is financed by a US production house.

"Fifty years from now, this fight will be looked back as an epic war. People will talk about it from a mythological point of view," Swaroop says. "The idea to make this film is also to understand the way the election machinery functions, the identity of the voters, the communal divide and how the local population is directly affected by the ones who will take charge."

He goes on to add that although the nature of the film is political, he is apolitical as a person. "I am of the belief that whoever is in power will have a strong tendency to abuse it. But, people admire powerful people and choose to give them the power. In this case, there is so much of it centring on one person, that if he takes office, it will become impossible for him to contain it. Things will explode. More than showcasing an ideological conflict, I am curious to document the administration bit of this spectacle." Swaroop, along with his crew will be in the holy city till May 20. "We are looking at a theatrical distribution as well as a festival run," he said.