Film Critics Guild miffed with OTT platform's tutorial before reviewing Grahan

On July 2, the Film Critics Guild (FCG) took to its social media platform to share a letter that the guild recently sent to the Disney Hotstar Plus OTT channel. The letter represented the guild's concerns with the 'special note' that was sent to the film journalists along with the screener and embargo on June 20 for their recent web series Grahan. The web series released on June 26. 

A screener that is sent prior to the release of a film or series, allows the media to watch it and review it ahead of a public release. However, this time, there was a special note that came along with the screener which gave 'instructions' to film journalists on how they should review and critic the series considering its sensitive content.

The instructions written in red font with the word 'NOT' highlighted in bold letters didn't go down well the film critics guild which felt that such an outrageous note was a "breach of the professional relationship between a streaming platform and qualified, experienced, independent journalists".

The letter drafted and signed by Anupama Chopra, Chairperson of FCG, also called this step "a violation of freedom of speech and expression" and asked the channel not to take on a "censorious role in its equation with members of the fraternity".

FCG currently comprises 36 members including renowned film reviewers like Bhawana Somaaya, Anupama Chopra, Bharathi Pradhan, Bharadwaj Rangan, Fahad Samar, Ajay Brahmatmaj.

What did the instructions highlight?

The instructions by the channel, as per the letter made public by FCG, mentioned that their latest series Grahan, inspired from Satya Vyas's novel Chaurasi is a work of fiction and should not be related to any real-life incidents. It also requested the critics to refrain from misrepresenting any religious group or community in the review and connecting it with any current or past political happenings. In the end, it asked the film writer community to treat the subject with sensitivity and understand that with this, the channel is not taking any socio-political agenda.

Grahan based on 1984 riots

The series that has been receiving admiration on the social media platform is directed by Ranjan Chandel and produced by Jar pictures. The web series is being acclaimed not just for its powerful acting by Wamiqa Gabbi and Zoya Hussain but also for its music by Amit Trivedi and lyricists Varun Grover and Swanand Kirkire.