Panaji: In a bold statement, south Indian actor-filmmaker Rohini has said that it's fascistic to say that a film should not be released.
Regretting that "we live at a time of strict social censoring, she said several incidents in the past three years seemed to be an attempt to take society back to the Victorian era. However, she expressed hope that art will erupt into another form during such times of "dark freedom".
"Once a film is released, you can voice your objection to its content if you find any fault with it. But it's fascistic to say that a film should not be released," she told Onmanorama on the sidelines of the ongoing 48th edition of IFFI here. She was reacting to a query on the stiff opposition to the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmavati.'
Rohini said the controversy seemed to be a tactics to divert attention from a massive protest staged by the farmers in New Delhi recently.
"One more important thing we have to see is that it seems to be a tactics. In Delhi, some 3000 farmers had staged a protest on November 20. I think the controversy over Padmavati was a tactic to deviate people's attention from it. Because if you talk about cinema, everyone will speak about it,' she said.
"Not only Padmavati, it's wrong to say one should not watch a film," she added.
Asked about the controversy over Malayalam film S Durga, she said the ban and censorship of art and literature must be protested. "We have to protest and stand our ground. We have to say that it's not right. We should send out a message that nobody is taking it lying down. You cannot curb freedom of expression and speech. We will protest and win back," she said.
On Malayalam cinema
Rohini said she was happy to see that fresh whiff of change in Malayalam cinema that reminds her of the golden age of 80s and 90s. "I'm happy that some new age directors have me in their mind while working on scripts," she said. She, however, said she would not want to be seen in stereotypical characters.
Rohini was seen in prominent roles recently in 'Guppy' and 'Action Hero Biju'.
She is working on Tamil films 'Velaikaran' and 'Traffic Ramaswami' and a few Telugu projects.
