Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Mirzapur-fame actor Vikrant Massey said that an overarching certification mechanism was needed for the web series being produced in the country. “Not censorship, because it may smother creativity, but certification would be in order,” he said.
Massey, who is the chief protagonist of ‘12th Fail’, a film that depicts the disappointments and the failures faced by civil service aspirants, was interacting with media persons. Based on the novel Twelfth Fail by Anurag Pathak, the film is inspired by the real life story of IPS Manoj Kumar Sharma and IRS Officer Shraddha Joshi.
The film, written and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, premiered in the city on Saturday and is set for release on October 27 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
He said that either a government agency or an independent body should be set up to certify web series, adding that it was wrong to presume that only films were exposing children to vulgarity and violence.
Massey, responding to a question, said that he was not ‘12th Fail’ but ‘13th Fail’. “I got busy with shooting and could not pay attention to my studies in college,” he said. Praising the film’s director, Massey said that Chopra was an ‘outstanding director’ who was absolutely uncompromising.
He was all praise for the people of the Chambal region, where the film was partly short. “The land there is not fertile, the summers are searing hot, the winters are freezing cold and the rains are heavy. And yet the people struggle and work as hard as possible,” he said. He asserted that there is no nepotism in the film world, adding that he always wanted to become an actor.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra said that the film was based on a real-life story. “If you have seen 3 Idiots and if you will see this film, you will realise that we have come a long way,” the ace director said. Dressed in black t-shirt on which was written ‘Haar nahi manunga’, Chopra recited a poem by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
