Sad times to make films: Neeraj Ghaywan

Film director Neeraj Ghaywan is upset that his multiple award winning 2015 film "Masaan" has been censored for showcase in the free online streaming application Hotstar. He finds it a "sad time to make films" under such strict censorship.

"This is a new form of censorship of self righteousness and morality. Sad times to make films," Ghaywan tweeted on Thursday night.

"This is the exact moral high ground that 'Masaan' tried to disregard in the film and it is sadly the victim of it too," added Ghaywan, who was last month named the winner of the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film for "Masaan" at the 63rd National Film Awards announcement.

Apart from Ghaywan, producer Anurag Kashyap took to Twitter to lash out at Star network's streaming app and even urged viewers to either watch the film on DVD or download it illegally it via torrents.

"If you haven't seen 'Masaan', better to download it on torrents or watch a pirated DVD than see it on Hotstar. It's mutilated on it," Kashyap had tweeted.