Masaan was arguably one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2015, which was censored.
And as the Punjab & Haryana High Court accepted an affidavit filed by the Censor Board, which said that they would compel filmmakers to sign an undertaking that they would not release censored material on the Internet.
This effectively ensures that if certain films are censored in the theatre, it is virtually impossible for you to see the uncensored version of that film legally.
Shockingly, there was no fuss over this by either filmmakers or viewers. However, this issue might get some attention now, because Anurag Kashyap tweeted this last night:
If you haven’t seen Masaan , better to download it on torrents or watch a pirated Dvd than see it on hot star. It’s mutilated on it.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) April 6, 2016
He the filmmaker who’s half the film doesn’t even get released and still gives advices to download via torrent.
And there is more to the story..
One official from Hotstar even replied to Anurag Kashyap saying they don’t edit films at Hotstar. But soon deleted the tweet.
Thankfully, Varun Grover (Film’s writer) was quick to take a screenshot and share it with the aam junta.
.@irocksid, tweet delete karne se kuchh nahin hoga. (Screenshots #ftw!) Now please find out WHO censored #Masaan. pic.twitter.com/3dootUFafM
— वरुण (@varungrover) April 7, 2016
And then the Film Director wrote:
I urge you NOT to watch MASAAN on @hotstartweets. It is a senseless cut made without my knowledge or consent. Get the Blu-ray/DVD instead.
— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) April 6, 2016
One of the reasons is also the aspect ratio. MASAAN’s original image is in 1:85:1.
On @hotstartweets, the image is cropped to fit in 16:9.— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) April 6, 2016
