‘Cinematic illiteracy’: Tharoor calls out Centre over denial of clearance to films at IFFK 2025

CEntral government's disaffirmation of clearance to 19 films at the International take fete of Kerala (IFFK) has triggered a disputation, with united states congress leader Shashi Tharoor calling it “most unfortunate" and “an extraordinary degree of cinematic illiteracy." Tharoor also said that several films were given clearance after his intervention and urged the central ministers to expedite the clearance.The 19 films were scheduled to be screened at IFFK in Thiruvananthapuram. These films were denied clearance by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.Congress MP took to his official handle on X and wrote, “It is most unfortunate that an unseemly controversy has arisen over the central government's denial of clearance to 19 films which were scheduled to be screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram.”Tharoor said that while the original list of films was much longer, several films were given clearance after his “intervention” with Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw. He also added that the rest of the films are still awaiting clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs.Organisers said that the screening of seven films scheduled for the last two days was stalled due to absence of the mandatory exemption certificate and that at present, 19 films have not received permission for screening, reported news agency ANI.Throor in his post called the denial an “extraordinary degree of cinematic illiteracy on the part of the bureaucracy.” He cited “Battleship Potemkin,” a 1928 classic film on the Russian Revolution, stating that the denial to such films is laughable.“Denying permission to some Palestinian films reflects bureaucratic over-cautiousness rather than the cultural breadth of vision,” Tharoor wrote further.He also urged both Vaishnaw and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to grant an expedited clearance to “avoid any further embarrassment” for the cinema lovers in Kerala and around the world.In film festivals, movies that don't have a Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certificate have to go through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which grants them an ‘exemption certificate.’Directors criticise the denial of clearenceMeanwhile, the director Adoor Gopalakrishnan reportedly expressed displeasure over banning classic films like ‘The Hour of the Furnaces,’ 'Battleship Potemkin' and the Spanish film 'Beef.' While talking to ANI, Gopalakrishnan said that films like these are “classics of cinema.”Gopalakrishnan said that he used to study these films in his school days, and it's a “joke” to ban them since a lot of people already have it at home.“We keep it as a textbook. So, you cannot stop,” the director was quoted as saying.The IFFK 2025, which began on December 12, is set to end on December 19, and several classic films are included in the screenings. Organisers are reportedly in talks with the authorities to resolve the issue at the earliest.(With inputs from ANI)