The Santosh Ban: Is India Becoming a Censorship State?

Описание: Hi all! Been a while since my last video - I finally got around to watching Santosh and was appalled that this film was banned by the CBFC from getting a theatrical release in India - however, it is available on streaming so please give it a watch! Santosh takes place in a fictional town and does not claim it is an uncovering of a hidden truth or if it is even based on true events, yet the CBFC knows as well as the general audience that what is shown here is far from fiction, and that is why the film was banned. This goes beyond one film, there is a stark difference between the films the CBFC allows and those that it censors, and it has one simple common factor.

In this video essay, I break down why Santosh was banned, investigate the claims that it makes and evaluate whether the ban was justified or not? Contrasting it with films that were allowed such as Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story.

What are your thoughts on the rampant censorship in the country? Let me know!

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Disclaimer: This video includes short fictional scenes from a film used for critical commentary. It does not depict real violence

Sources:
Equality Now (2020) ‘India’s Justice System Is Failing Survivors Of Caste-Based Sexual Violence’, 24 November.
Gagan Preet Singh (2024) ‘Caste and Policing’, Society and Space, 22 April.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen (2025) ‘Internationally acclaimed film Santosh blocked in India over portrayal of police brutality’, The Guardian, 26 March.
India: Killings in Police Custody Go Unpunished (2016). New York: Human Rights Watch. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/19/i....
Maroosha Muzaffar (2023) ‘The Kerala Story: India’s divide over low-budget Bollywood film turns deadly’, The Independent, 16 May.
Meryl Sebastian (2023) ‘The Kerala Story: Why an Indian film on Islamic State is so controversial’, BBC, 10 May.
Mohit Rao (2020) ‘Indian police use violence as a shortcut to justice. It’s the poorest who bear the scars’, CNN, 3 December. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/02/in....
Sanjay Kak (2022) ‘The dangerous “truth” of The Kashmir Files’, Al Jazeera, 13 April.
Supriya Sharma (2022) ‘How a movie on Kashmir led to demolition of Muslims’ homes in India’, Quartz, 30 April.
The Hindu (2020) ‘India records highest rate of bribery in Asia: survey’, 26 November.
The Hindu (2021) ‘Islamic State has 66 known Indian-origin fighters: U.S. report on terrorism’, 17 December.
The Hindu (2025) ‘India ranks 96 out of 180 countries in Corruption Perceptions Index 2024’, 13 February.
Vikrant Jha (2018) ‘Meet bus conductor Ashok Kumar—the murderer who wasn’t’, National Herald India, 28 February.