Just a couple of films old in the purported mainstream Bollywood, Adil Hussain seems to understand the industry quite well. At the 64th National Awards, the actor won a special mention along with the filmmaker Shubhashish Bhutiani for their latest film Mukti Bhawan.
"There shouldn't be any censorships but classifications. The people should be given the choice whether they want to watch the movie or not," says the actor while speaking to News18.com.
Born in Assam, Hussain is a renowned face in the world of theatre and is now referred to as one of the finest actors Bollywood has ever seen. He's unequivocal with his opinion when he says that censoring certain films is like disrespecting the Indian audience. "In a country like India, if we're banning films on sexuality and giving reasons of sexuality - I think it's totally underestimating the intelligence of Indian people".
"We're all in a country where Mahabharata, Ramayana and Geeta was written - the most complicated writings that anybody has ever written from the beginning of human civilisation. Kamasutra, was written too! When you go to Konark Mandir, there are explicit scenes about sexuality and in fact there's one scene which is referred to as mission impossible," he adds.
He refrains himself from passing a "judgemental comment" on the recent ban on Lipstick Under My Burkha but states that "this kind of a model of censorship should definitely go and it should have gone yesterday".
The actor, who has created quite a niche fan base for himself with his capsulated content-driven films including English Vinglish and Life of Pi, is now gearing up for the release of Mukti Bhawan.
Directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani, the film deals with life, death and the complexities of a father-son's relationship.
Bhutiani, too, calls out the censor board and feels it's high time someone should step in and probably review and renew the processes.
"Considering that young people can watch anything and everything, this is crazy that something like this is happening in our country. I think every once in a while you need to review and renew the processes -it's due now".
When asked what made him say yes to the young filmmaker, Adil says that one doesn't get to do such unusual stories.
"You don't get to do such stories. After stories written by great writers like Shakespeare, Kafka and Tolstoy which I'm used to doing in theatre and quite often the scripts I get are not what I'd like to be a part of".
The actor credits the filmmaker for playing a "masterstroke in terms of experimenting relationships in the face of death".
"And also that the premise is such that both the where both the characters are put into a very tiny space where you can't help but put behind the hidden ghosts of all the past, grudges and acquisitions," he adds.
The film, which has previously been screened at various film festivals, received a 10-minute standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival and is set to hit the theatres this Friday.
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