Bhopal is often called the “retirement city” for its slow-paced, serene lifestyle. For someone who has lived here for most of the last decade, this also means there are few cultural spaces in the Madhya Pradesh capital where young people can be exposed to new ideas. So, I was glad when I heard that Bhopal would host its first film festival on February 21 and February 22. The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board was listed as one of the sponsors.

Among the “seven curated showcase screenings” was filmmaker and writer Varun Grover’s Kiss, according to the film festival’s website. But it was not screened.

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On the evening of Day 1, a cryptic message was posted on the festival’s Instagram page: “The films recently mentioned in certain reports are not part of our official showcase.”

The film was listed on the festival’s website and announced on Instagram. However, on the day of the event, it did not appear on the screening schedule – outside the venue, white tape was stuck on the notice board to blank it out.

Films screened at festivals require exemption certificates from the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Grover told Scroll that he had been informed by the organisers that the certificate for his film had been withdrawn at the last moment.

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Looking at the festival’s announcement board and on social media, I could not immediately find any other films being cancelled.

On the Day 2 schedule on the notice board, a white tape covered the panel discussion titled “Finding your voice in Indian cinema”, which was supposed to feature filmmaker Hansal Mehta, best known for Shahid (2013) and Aligarh (2016). Mehta declined to comment on the matter.

Grover said that Kiss has been shown at several national and international festivals “without any problem”.

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“Ironically, the film is about censorship,” he said. He added that it is “not at all political” and explores morality in society and the family. The film also deals with queer intimacy.

The festival went on. Screenings were held. Perhaps replacement films filled the vacant slots. By all visible benchmarks, the first edition concluded successfully.

After the event, I began scanning local newspapers to see how they had covered the not-so-subtle change in programme, given the Instagram post and the white tape hastily pasted over the schedule outside the venue.

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The Hindi newspapers, which many hold up as the pulse of the “heart of India”, are usually quick to get to news developments before others pick it up. But nothing showed up in my search.

In the run-up to the festival, one publication, Swadesh carried an article criticising the selection of Grover’s film. Another, Panchjanya, published a similarly critical piece shortly after the event concluded.

Swadesh is a Hindi daily and Panchjanya a journal affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh and at the Centre.

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The Swadesh report appeared to take as much issue with Grover, if not more, as with the content of the film. It alleged that the film promotes “anti-India family values”. The objections extended to Grover’s public persona, describing him as someone who “promotes leftist ideology” and frequently speaks against the BJP and Hindutva.

The outlet also mentioned that he composed a poem that was popular during the 2019-’20 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act – “Hum Kagaz Nahi Dikhayenge”.

The Swadesh report also referred to filmmaker Hansal Mehta as “vampanthi” or leftist.

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Panchjanya threw around terms like “woke” and “cultural Marxism”, objecting to a platform being provided to “directors like Varun Grover, who…is known for his outspoken criticism of the government, the BJP and the RSS”.

I contacted the festival organisers but they declined to comment. The main sponsor of the festival was the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. Officials at the board did not respond to my questions either.

It remains unclear why there was a change in scheduling of the festival, but what remains clear is that what happened in Bhopal is neither new nor surprising.

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In December, at the International Film Festival of Kerala, the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry initially denied permission to screen 19 films, including four about Palestine. This caused an uproar. The minister later allowed some of them to be shown.

The difference in Bhopal was that unlike Kerala, there was silence over the censorship.

The silence is perhaps a reflection of something much larger. As Grover said in Scroll’s Adda episode in August, no one has to tell people to be afraid anymore under the current dispensation.

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“People are already scared,” he had said. “And in that fear we are asking, can we say this? And if the response from the other side is not yes, then we know we must really get scared.”

“Censorship” often brings up images of dramatic bans or public orders. But, as the events in Bhopal showed, it can take a more mundane form – an empty slot in an event programme, an event taped over on a schedule, nothing to disrupt the event, let alone make headlines.

Here is a summary of last week’s top stories.

Respite of Kejriwal. A Delhi court discharged Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, and 21 others accused by the Central Investigation Bureau in the liquor policy case. There was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the policy, the court held.

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It criticised the CBI for implicating Kejriwal and Sisodia without any cogent material, and said that the chargesheet had several gaps not supported by witnesses or statements. The bench said that it will recommend a departmental inquiry against the agency officials who made a public servant the accused number one in the case.

Also read: Lapses in probe, no proof: What court said while acquitting Kejriwal, Sisodia in excise policy case

Controversial textbook. The Supreme Court banned the publication and re-printing of a Class 8 social science textbook that included a section on “corruption in the judiciary”. The bench also directed the Union government and state education departments to ensure that all copies of the book, printed or digital, are removed from public access.

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The Union government apologised to the court and said that the National Council of Educational Research and Training, which published the book, had withdrawn it.

The bench also issued a contempt of court notice to the Department of School Education and NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklan. It told the NCERT director to submit the names of those who were involved in preparing the chapter in question.

Extraordinary intervention. The Supreme Court allowed judges from Odisha and Jharkhand to decide on claims and objections raised during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The bench also permitted the Calcutta High Court to deploy civil judges in the state with at least three years of experience to expedite the process.

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The order came after the Supreme Court referred to a letter from the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court, who said that there were 50 lakh cases of logical discrepancies or unmapped categories to be decided and 250 judicial officers were available for the duty. Even if one officer decides 250 matters a day, it will take at least 80 days to complete the process, the chief justice added.

Also on Scroll last week

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