Shibpur: Director accuses the OTT platform of censoring his film before uploading the uncut version

Arindam Bhattacharjee's film Shibpur is once again involved in controversy. Earlier this year, Shibpur’s lead actress Swastika Mukherjee alleged that one of the producers sexually harassed her. Later, that producer stepped down after the allegation compelled EIMPA to intervene. Now the film was dropped on Hoichoi on September 22. On that day, Arindam complained on social media that the Hoichoi authority cut some of the action scenes. 

Also read: Shibpur review: Swastika Mukherjee and Parambrata Chatterjee present a gripping gangster drama 

The film delves into the unrest of the ’80s in Howrah Shibpur. Arindam took to his social media and wrote, “Watch 60% of Shibpur on Hoichoi and the rest on Zee5. And yes, please sit with lollipops. Hoichoi made it a children's film. Congratulations Bengali cinema! You kept us Bengali but did not make us adults.” Which scenes were cut and why? Did they get the director's permission? In one interview he said that he did not compromise to portray the terror in Howrah in the ’80s. There are lots of action scenes in the film, in the style of Badlapur or Gangs of Wasseypur. Were those scenes cut? 

Also read: Shibpur: When and where to watch Parambrata Chatterjee and Swastika Mukherjee’s political thriller 

According to an Aajkaal Dot In report, Hoichoi claimed to have received the wrong file. They took action after knowing this. Later, the new uncut file was uploaded which contains all the scenes. Many netizens were surprised to learn of the incident. Some of them also expressed their displeasure against the platform.