Vishal
Bhardwaj
said
that
the
censor
board
gives
a
"deaf" ear
to
the
concerns
of
the
film-makers.
The
writer-director,
who
has
faced
troubles
with
the
Central
Board
of
Film
Certification
(CBFC)
in
the
past,
said
films
are
a
"soft
target"
for
anything
and
everything
that
goes
wrong
with
the
society.
When
asked
for
his
reaction
on
the
possibility
of
censorship
creeping
into
the
digital
medium,
Bhardwaj
said,
"Did
they
listen
to
us
when
the
put
the
'no
smoking'
ticker
on
a
running
visual?
Do
they
hear
us
even
now?
They
(censor
board)
are
deaf.
They
do
whatever
they
want
to
do.
We
are
the
only
nation
in
this
world
that
has
'no
smoking'
on
a
running
visual.
How
more
ridiculous
can
it
be?"
"The
kind
of
things
you
can
do
in
a
series
and
there's
no
censorship.
That
Animal
Welfare
Board,
my
God,
it's
a
pain
in
the
neck,
if
I
can't
say
a**.
And
the
kind
of
things
they
impose
on
you.
Films
are
such
a
soft
target.
If
anything
is
happening
to
someone,
(target)
the
film.
As
if
films
are
responsible
for
every
evil
that
exists
in
the
society," he
added.
He
was
speaking
at
NDFC's
Film
Bazaar
Knowledge
Series
session
Storytellers
First
-
Directors
and
Producers
who
Changed
the
Game.
Bhardwaj
said
he
would
love
to
create
a
project
for
the
digital
medium
as
soon
as
possible.
He
added
that
he
is
looking
for
material
which
could
be
presented
in
a
web
series
format.
"It
is
such
a
creative
freedom
for
a
director.
I
love
cinema...
But
these
series
offer
really
something
unique...
In
films,
at
the
editing
level,
we
have
to
let
go
of
many
nuances...
The
small
characters
you
don't
concentrate
on...
Series
gives
you
that
liberty
and
freedom," he
added.
The
session
also
had
veteran
film-maker
Ramesh
Sippy
and
Abhishek
Chaubey
on
the
panel.
Chaubey
said
people
in
power
in
the
country
do
not
take
cinema
or
arts,
in
general,
seriously.
"They
think
'hum
naachne-gaane
wale
hain,
bh***d
hain
(we
are
song
and
dance
guys,
we
are
'bh***d').
That's
how
they
look
at
the
work
that
we
do.
They
do
not
look
at
cinema
as
cultural
documents,
as
an
exploration
or
a
voice
of
our
times...
"I
think
this
government
is
having
a
hard
time
driving
the
economy
and
giving
employment
to
people.
They
are
not
interested
in
changing
cinema
or
changing
the
culture
or
understanding
the
culture
of
cinema," said
the
director,
whose
"Udta
Punjab"
was
embroiled
in
controversy
as
the
CBFC
had
ordered
multiple
cuts
from
the
film.
Sippy
praised
the
digital
medium
for
emerging
as
a
great
platform
for
storytelling.
"What
the
web
series
is
offering
is
to
do
what
you
want,
at
the
time
you
want.
There
is
no
limitation
-
either
time
or
creativity.
Even
the
censor
lines
are
far
broader
at
the
moment.
There
should
be
no
censor.
It
is
supposed
to
be
film
certification,
it's
not
censorship.
But
the
film
still
goes
through
the
process,"
the
director
said.
He,
however,
raised
his
concern
on
the
censorship
exercise,
saying
it
has
become
"more
limiting"
than
it
was
in
his
heyday.
"It
has
gone
through
changes.
Even
the
films
that
are
screened
on
the
big
screen
there's
a
lot
more
limiting
today
than
it
was
when
we
started
back
then,"
Sippy
said.