Why ban 'India's Daughter'? Questions remain

Film celebrities like Madhoo and Soha Ali Khan on Friday continued to question the viability of the ban on the broadcast of "India's Daughter", a documentary based on the December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi.

Actress Soha Ali Khan, daughter of former Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson Sharmila Tagore, tweeted: "Pls see Leslee Udwin's doc India's Daughter-we need to understand why rape happens so often in this country Only then can we find a solution."

The documentary, by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, has grabbed eyeballs for including an interview with a rapist, one of the six men who raped the 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist on December 16, 2012 in a moving bus in Delhi. The victim later died of her injuries.

The central government on Thursday served a legal notice to the BBC in connection with the documentary, which was also uploaded on video sharing website YouTube by an individual and received reactions from all quarters.

While some people are slamming the documentary for giving a platform to a rapist, others are applauding it for telling a truth in its entirety.

Actor-filmmaker Lakshmy Ramakrishnan wonders "what we are trying to hide" by banning a film like this.

"If it has to create public disorder, so be it. Only when people know what really happened with the girl, we as a country realise the value we give to women. This documentary may not prevent such crimes from happening again, but it would at least educate and make us understand about the heinous incident," Ramakrishnan said.

Questioning the very reason why permission was granted for the film to be made, she added: "Our government doesn't mind banning porn websites but has issues with such a documentary, despite granting permission to be made in the first place. All of us have the right to information, and nobody can stop someone from accessing it."

Actress Madhoo believes in the creative freedom of a filmmaker, but she feels "India's Daughter" has given voice to a rapist -- which she objects to.

"I totally believe every filmmaker should be given the creative freedom and right to show what they want to show. But as a viewer, I'll choose what I want to see...I feel it's unfair to ban this documentary.

"Having said that, I'm a mother and I fear for my daughters' safety. And I strongly object to the platform these rapists have been given to voice their opinions," she said.

"By putting these criminals on camera, you're giving them an opportunity to be popular. Should society really need to hear what they have to say? I don't think all crimes have to be dealt with publicly. I don't want to wake up and read a cover story on what the rapist had to say about a crime he committed two years ago," she added.

Livid over the ban, filmmaker Sangeeth Sivan opined: "In India, it is not easy to stop a rape happening every 20 minutes, but its very easy to Ban a Movie like #indiasdaughter in less than 20 mts."

Jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali described the documentary as "an actual representation of d repressed & hypocritical views of mass India. A society where women r 2nd class."

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt makes a pertinent point when he says: "A flourishing Democracy relies upon access to a wide range of opinions and sources of information. Our laws & our guardians of culture sometimes silence opinions in a manner that they hurt the democratic spirit of our nation."