By SAT News Desk
MELBOURNE, 20 August 2021: The Indian film industry is facing many challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, even if there is no lockout many issues remain. Ajitpal Singh, Director of ‘Fire in The Mountains’, which won the IFFM-2021 award for the best Indi movie says,” In India, during the pandemic, the states, center and political parties have failed to deliver.
We went to shoot our film and, in Simla, we had to take the RTPCR COVID Test but private labs were not permitted to do it. The reason being, the government wanted to keep the case numbers low. One had to go to the civil hospital where the fear of catching the virus was there. But we went there and saw ten dead bodies coming out.”
So, we did not have the objectivity and clarity about a story we want. It will take some more time. But we are navigating this tough time. This is the biggest disaster after the partition.”
Another film director said, “It takes a lot of time to digest the situation and it will take time to decide what to do and search new subjects for movies.
Touching the question of censorship, Ajitpal Singh said, it was these days, not the question of censorship but that of ‘self-censorship’ prevailing in the industry because of the fear of authorities. While another film personality felt one could always find a way to express oneself through the film medium.
