I&B Ministry drops S Durga and Nude from IFFI Goa without consulting jury

I&B Ministry has dropped S Durga and Nude from the India Panorama Section at IFFI.

The Information & Broadcasting Ministry, headed by Smriti Irani, has decided to drop Ravi Jadav’s Nude and Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Sexy Durga (retitled as S Durga) from the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), that is going to be held in Goa later this month.

Nude, directed by Ravi Jadav, and S Durga, directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, were set to be screened under the India Panorama Section at IFFI. Along with these, 24 other films were selected by a 13-member jury. National Award-winning director Ravi Jadhav’s Marathi film Nude is the story of survival of a young woman who works as a nude model. The film was all set to screen at the festival but has now been replaced as per the list released by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Malayalam film S Durga, screened at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, is a dark social commentary that is narrated in an engaging manner.

The switch was apparently made without consulting the 13-member jury. Screenwriter Apurva Asrani who is one of the jury members told indianexpress.com, “I had no idea these films had been dropped till yesterday. I have written to the federation expressing my disappointment as both ‘Nude’ & ‘Sexy Durga’ are important films that present women with utmost dignity and respect. I sincerely hope the ministry reconsiders this move and upholds the decision of the jury.”

The final list of 26 films also includes mainstream films like Jolly LLB 2, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, Ventilator, Poorna and Meghnad Bodh Rahasya. The jury is headed by Sujoy Ghosh and also includes Rahul Rawail, Nishikant Kamat, Nikkhil Advani, Apurva Asrani, Ruchi Narain amongst others.