Ali Abbas Zafar welcomes the era of self-censorship to avoid trolls: ‘People are very sensitive these days’

Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar, who has made films like Jogi, Sultan, and Bharat, recently said that because we are living in sensitive times, filmmakers and content creators should impose self-censorship to avoid trolling. The Gunday director was asked about the boycott culture and if it is manufactured or organic, and he said that “there is no smoke without fire.”
In a chat with Connect FM Canada, Ali said that he is of the opinion that the ‘boycott culture’ started because certain things shown in films and web series are “wrong.” “I definitely think that this whole boycott culture, this started because people thought that certain things that are being shown are wrong,” he said. He added that as an industry, they must exercise caution at the earliest stages of production.
“As an industry, while scripting and writing characters, we must remember that people are very sensitive these days. We must self-censor so no one can misinterpret what we are trying to say,” he said. Ali said that not every tweet that bashes Bollywood, comes from a bot. He insed that filmmakers should write and create the kind of content that bots and trolls can’t find any fault in it.

“I believe that it is our responsibility that we should humbly create content of the kind that when the audience watches it, the ones we are calling paid bots and trolls, they watch it and say there is nothing wrong with it. When something is wrong, you cannot fight it. You have to be on the same level as them and talk to them. You have to make them understand that you understand their point of view. And when such cinema is made, where they can’t question anything, this entire conversation will be null and void,” he said.
Ali Abbas Zafar landed in a lot of controversies after the release of his Prime Video series Tandav, and had to ultimately issue and apology and edit certain scenes from the show. Talking about that experience, Ali said that he made a make with Tandav, which is why he was okay to apologise.
“It is my effort to make things that unite people. With Tandav, I learnt storytelling and I also learnt that the audience that loves you, has all the right to be upset with you,” he said, and added that they should have looked at those objectionable scenes from a different point of view. “There were certain things in Tandav that angered people. We should have seen in from a different point of view. I apologised, edited those scenes because I can’t separate my audience from myself,” he said.
Ali Abbas Zafar recently directed Diljit Dosanjh’s Jogi, which released on Netflix.