EXCLUSIVE: Despatch actress Shahana Goswami comments on film & OTT censorship; says, “It should not have censor certification but then…”

Actress Shahana Goswami’s crime drama film Despatch is now premiering on ZEE5. The film stars Manoj Bajpayee in the lead role. It is directed by Kanu Behl. Shahana has commented on her views over the increasing censorship of films and OTT content in India.

Shahana Goswami opens up about film and OTT censorship

Shahana emphasizes the importance of allowing diverse perspectives to flourish, as restrictions can dilute the authenticity of a story. In an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble, the actress shared her views about film and OTT censorship, she said, “I am of the belief that censorship is a required means for you to segregate what is viewable by what section of society vis-à-vis age and in terms of content, but I am not a believer that you should be banning things or cutting them out. The internet is a world that is already difficult to control and contain. We live in that kind of reality of parents and kids of this generation—a, you know, controlling the internet is anyway, a hard thing to do. And I don’t think that I do believe that when you start controlling in a way where you are not letting people engage in something, uh, you know, across the board, then you’re actually creating more of a buzz around that. So it’s productive.”

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Shahana also highlights the need for a balance between responsible content creation and the freedom to express differing viewpoints without fear of repression. Furthermore, being asked that films should not be censored, she said, “Films should not have censor certification but then you should have the choice to watch a film if you want to watch it or watch PG-13, and then that level of control has to happen at an individual level, right? The same way that when we went to the theatre, we could not walk into an A film when we were kids. But that didn’t mean that A films didn’t come out.  True, so I don’t believe that any film should be banned, not shown or cut out. You can put whatever certification you want on it, but it will still find its way. It’s not like if these things are censored in certain aspects, it’s censored on an OTT platform. People will find it on some illegal streaming platform anyway, so it’s not like you’re really stopping people.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Shahana Goswami calls seducing scene with Manoj Bajpayee in Despatch interesting & it’s NOT owing to them making out