Don't know anything about IFFI protests, 'Padmavati' stir: Muzaffar Ali

There are calls to boycott the 48th International Film Festival of India over the stir around "Padmavati" release and the exclusion of "S Durga" and "Nude" from IFFI's Indian Panorama section. But filmmaker Muzaffar Ali doesn't want to comment about it and says that he has no idea about the controversy.

Asked about his stance on all the debates, Muzaffar Ali told IANS: "I don't know anything about that. It is a full different story... I have no experience or idea about it."

"Padmavati", featuring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, has been mired in controversy over conjectures that it "distorts history" regarding Rajput queen Padmavati, a contention that Bhansali has repeatedly denied.

The release date of the film has been pushed, but some fringes are demanding ban on the movie. Many film stars have come forward to condemn this and call it an act of bullying.

On the hand, filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh resigned as the head of the jury of the Indian Panorama Section of the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) when "S Durga" and "Nude" didn't made it to the list. Scriptwriter Apurva Asrani and filmmaker Gyan Correa also resigned.

Muzaffar Ali is the director of the classic Bollywood movie "Umrao Jaan", and his last directorial "Jaanisaar" released in 2015. At IFFI, he heads the International Competition jury.

He might not be willing to talk about the controversy, but Muzaffar Ali did share his vision for the future of Indian cinema.

The filmmaker said: "It depends on makers. We need to create breed of makers who look at cinema in its biggest avatar, in its most sacred form. All this will make a lot of difference to the future of Indian cinema."

"There is a need to evolve and arrive...A kind of wisdom in cinema is very important.. It has to prevail," he added.

Is it happening at the moment?

"It should happen...The world is moving ahead, we can't afford to be isolated," said Muzaffar Ali.

(Sugandha Rawal's trip to Goa is at the invitation of the organisers. She can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)

--IANS

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