What is Jashn-e-Azadi about? Why were you so sure you would not pass thecensors?
Jashn-e-Azadi is a film that I finished almost five years ago. It's an attempt to understand the sentiment behind the demand for azadi, for freedom, in Kashmir. Even if you were to forget about any other political or historical dimension to this demand, the terrible militarisation of Kashmir - more than half a million soldiers, remember - is central to the film... Did you know that any film that has images of the armed forces needs a clearance from the Defence Ministry before it gets censor clearance? Would a film that critiques the extensive militarisation of Kashmir get that kind of clearance?
What prompted you to put the film online? How many times has it been viewed?
I've actually uploaded only the trailer, and three short excerpts. It's my US distributor who has made it available on the net, and its free via the Snag site. People are watching it, that's all I know.
What do you think of the potential of the online medium? Does it make censorship redundant?
I think online viewing is a great way of spreading the word about a film, and certainly invaluable to escape any attempt at throttling the circulation of a film. But everybody in our part of the world does not as yet access the net, and not many have broadband connectivity. That's still years away. People are dependent on watching films on their televisions, on TV, or via DVDs. Most importantly, watching documentaries is a social act - for students, for activists, for all of us. Censorship attempts to invade that social space, invoking a colonial fear of the gathering of people. The real danger, of course, is not from the actual law, but the right it seems to confer on people to disallow material they are uncomfortable with. That's what makes screenings vulnerable to bullying, like we've seen recently with Symbiosis in Pune.
How has the response been online? Is it a satisfactory experience?
I'm very pleased with the online response. You see, in the absence of the film being available online, the trolls and mischief-makers were free to misrepresent the film, and twist the contents of the film to suit their own intention. But once it's there, people can make up their own minds, which is all one is asking for... Of course, the net audience is a bit like a TV audience, anonymous, atomistic. It's important, but I would not trade a screening before a real audience for anything in the world. Cinema has always been a collective experience....
Do you think we Indians need to grow up when it comes to creative freedom?
As documentary film-makers many of us have been active in the Campaign Against Censorship. We had a credo there: Free Speech, and Fearless Listening. That's what we need to cultivate, the ability to hear things that we are not necessarily comfortable with, things we find difficult or even disagreeable to hear. Without that we cannot make a satisfactory case for the right to free speech.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-21/news-interviews/31082394_1_fearless-listening-online-medium-screening
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