Complaint Against Anurag Kashyap's Short Film in Netflix's Ghost Stories

Netflix India has received a complaint against a scene in director Anurag Kashyap’s short film which is part of the anthology Ghost Stories. The streaming giant had released the movie earlier this year. A complainant has raised objection to a scene in Kashyap’s short fim wherein actress Sobhita Dhulipala’s character consumes a foetus after suffering a miscarriage. This is among the first grievances to be registered after the formulation of the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in February this year.

The complaint said that the scene is not required for the story. It further said a trigger warning for women who have gone through the trauma of miscarriages should have been given if the creators wished to add such a scene in the short film.

According to the new rules framed by the Ministry, all streaming platforms have to constitute a redressal mechanism for addressing viewers’ grievances as early as possible.

Netflix’s Grievance Redressal Officer is now looking into the matter. Netflix’s spokesperson told Mid-Day that the OTT platform reached out to the production company RSVP Movies and Flying Unicorn Entertainment]to share the complaint.

According to media reports, Kashyap took to Instagram to react to this development. In an Instagram Story that is no longer visible, he said, “So it has started… A complaint came to Netflix on Ghost Stories. This is the end."

An anthology of four short films Ghost Stories features shorts directed by Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar. It was released on New Year’s Day in 2020 on Netflix. The same filmmakers had directed the anthology ‘Lust Stories’ which was released in 2018.

Netflix India has experienced backlash around earlier titles such as Sacred Games and A Suitable Boy

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