Actor Tanuj Virwani who plays the menacing antagonist in the Disney-Hotstar’s new webseries Kamathipura woke up on Sunday morning to the shocking news that its release was postponed from March 8 to an indefinite date.
Apparently the decision comes in the wake of the recent guidelines for the digital platform from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The hard-hitting series contains a profusion of unparliamentary language and scenes of prolonged violence .
The flash-decision to do an Operation Cleanup was taken by Disney-Hotstar’s top-ranking officials to avoid controversy, moral policing and litigation.
Says Tanuj, “I am quite shocked , to be honest.But the series’ makers tell me it’s because of the new OTT guidelines that need to be followed . Will take a few more days before streaming.”
Does Tanuj think the new I &B guidelines are an obstruction to an unhampered flow on the streaming platform? “I think as long as they are logical and fair , they won’t hamper the content coming out too much . Certain platforms and shows have pushed it and abused the self-censorship they were meant to carry out , and now as a result the rest of us are simply suffering a collateral damage.”