Don't want to discuss this, says Amartya Sen on documentary row

Refusing to be drawn into the controversy triggered by the Censor Board red-flagging a documentary on him due to some words he uttered in the film, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen on Wednesday suggested that the government speak to the shareholders about its disapproval.

"What can I say about this? This film is not made by me. I am the subject of the film and the subject should not be talking about these things. The director Suman Ghosh would say whatever needs to be said," Sen said when reporters sought his reaction on the documentary "An Argumentative Indian" failing to get the nod from the censor authorities.

The hour-long documentary by Ghosh met with objections from the censor board due to words like "cow", "Gujarat", "Hindu" as well as "Hindutva" used by the renowned economist in an interview that is part of the film. The censor board asked the director to mute the words on the plea their usage would "damage the country's image" but Ghosh, however, refused to mute "even a single word".

"I do not want to start a discussion on this. If the government has any disapproval about the film made on me, it has to be discussed with the concerned stakeholders.

"It does not look good for me to say something on this matter," Sen added.

The documentary, structured as a free flowing conversation between Sen and his student and Cornell Economics Professor Kaushik Basu, has already been screened in New York and London. It had a special screening in Kolkata on Monday and was scheduled for release in a number of theatres on Friday.

--IANS

ssp-mgr/vd