Shekhar Kapur slams popular OTT platform for editing 'Bandit Queen' without his permission

Renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has called out a popular OTT platform for editing his 1994 film Bandit Queen, stating that the online version has been altered “beyond recognition” without his permission. He also raised the question of whether something like this would happen with a film directed by a well-known Western director such as Christopher Nolan.

Shekhar Kapur, Sudhir Mishra call out censorship regulations in India

It started when Shekhar took to X to applaud the Netflix miniseries Adolescence which has garnered widespread appreciation. He wrote, “I’m not the first one to say this but #Adolescence from #Netflix redefines what truly great series can achieve. Its defies the regular 3 act structure of cause and effect and plunges you deeply into the minds of the characters and allows you to reflect upon yourself ..It’s next level story telling. Watch it.”

In response, Sudhir Mishra shared that a storytelling this bold would probably never be permitted in India, sharing, “Nobody will let us do something like that . One should do it as an independent film. Something of our own which is wanders, then stops, digs and goes where the smell takes us.”

At this point, Shekhar Kapoor called out the OTT platform Amazon prime over the editing of his 1994 film Bandit Queen which is based on the life of Phoolan Devi as covered in the book India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi by Mala Sen. The film has acquired a cult status over the years and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

Kapoor wrote, “I wonder @IAmSudhirMishra if OTT platforms would let me make #BanditQueen the way I made it years ago. The Bandit Queen on #AmazonPrime is unrecognisable from my film. Someone has cut it beyond recognition. And yet it carries my name as Director. And no one asked me! Are we lesser beings than Western Directors? Would they have the guts to cut a Chris Nolan film without his permission?”

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta also chimed in and wrote, “That is the point I’ve been trying to make @shekharkapur. Are we here to foster superior storytelling or to produce cattle-feed? Leave the good stories, the innovative storytelling, the silences, the slow burn, the experiments, the audacity, the budgets to the superior minds from the west. Welcome back to the days of colonisation”.

Kapur took to X once again on Wednesday to elaborate on the issue and vent. “The anguish a director and editor go through when editing their films. The days/nights spent arguing, fighting over each edit, each cut. I remember those months with Renu Saluja and myself on #BanditQueen. And then some random person carelessly cuts the film for OTT release,” he wrote.

“I want to ask this person. Did you even think about the love we give for our art? Did you think about how Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s beautiful was affected as you so carelessly butchered the film? Or the performances in the film from actors? For you were not there when we shot the film in a punishing 50 degree heat,” the filmmaker added.

“You were not there when we would stay up all night discussing the nuance of each scene, each moment, of the film, before filming it? Of course not .. For we are Indian Film Makers .. so who cares,” he concluded.