Producer Ritesh Sidhwani, who is gearing up for the release of his next web-series Mirzapur, has said that he is against censorship on digital platforms.
Sidhwani was interacting with media along with director Karan Anshuman, Gurmeet Singh, artistes Pankaj Adavani, Rasika Dugal, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Harshita Gaur, Amit Sial and Divyendu Sharma on Wednesday ( 14 November) in Mumbai.
There are reports that the Centre is planning censorship in digital medium along with feature films. “I am not for censorship on digital platforms. We are in fact fighting against censorship even in films,” he said.
“It (censorship) does not exist in television. First they need to look at what they are going to do with the TV. They can’t jump to digital platforms if they are allowing self-censorship on TV,” he said, adding, “If they start censoring it, then your content won’t be able to travel. Because of Amazon, our show is available in 200 countries. We as filmmakers, writers and actors are being discovered in various countries.”
When asked what is so liberating about video streaming service and the things he keeps in mind to make content for an online audience, he said, “I think the beauty of doing stuff online is that there is a sense of responsibility which you have to self-impose.”
Mirzapur is a crime-thriller web television-series on Amazon Prime Video produced by Excel Entertainment. It is Amazon Prime Video’s third fiction Indian original after Inside Edge and Breathe.
Mirzapur will have nine episodes in its first season, which have been directed by Gurmmeet Singh.