On Ctrl-ALT-delete of ‘obscenity’

Shakespeare real name is a star from another sky which exists six feet under Irsquom not surprised yoursquove probably not heard of this underground actor Or watched the 500 filmsseriesshorts hersquos starred in Hersquos an onscreen star alrightConsider that he once simply posted an Instagram Reel from the sets of his series Utha Pathak with him and few women bathed in chocolate sauce That shortreel Shakespeare tells me got him 360 million views and 5 million new followers on Insta aloneIn Utha Patak if you really wanna know and since I asked him Shakespeare plays a different character in each episode plumber carpenter chef photographer tailorhellip ldquoTop TRPrdquo he says for the viewership his series has got on the app ALTThe government has banned 25 such apps he had messaged me earlier to say hersquos starred as lead on all 25 of them Shakespeare by his admission is an ldquoerotica starrdquo As in generally speaking an actor in the adultentertainment or semiporn industryImagine Shakespeare in his primate form performing the most primal act for public consumption The difference between erotica and porn being the lighting of the room ie budgets I guessAlso cultural and narrative context isnrsquot it Is Khajuraho porn and Utha Patak erotica As an adult you could be okay with bothShakespeare Tripathy the male lead of adult films in a still from the series Utha PathakEither way Shakespeare tells me he has a childlock even for his social media followers As for his content on the apps he claims ldquoThere is no violence murder terrorism drugusehellip And the women make their own choices both as actors and charactersrdquoHe further philosophises ldquoTake a movie like Animal where women are even disrespected it becomes a hit My showsfilms are about lust which is a source of natural imagination You canrsquot control it like you canrsquot control hungerrdquoI havenrsquot critiqued Shakespearersquos masterpieces Donrsquot intend to They ought to be criticproof anywayBut we have heard of cases filed against specific shows on apps such as ALT that have landed them in legal trouble mdash for sexualising minors offending the Army with a man in uniform making love or plots encouraginginsinuating incestldquoBut those are not my showsrdquo Shakespeare protests since itrsquos not particular moviesseries that have been blocked but entire apps 18 such before this that have vanished from the digital ether based on a blanket ban ordered by the stateShakespeare while obviously pissed doesnrsquot sound half as loudrabid as the doorknob news anchor solidly cheerleading censorship further demanding arrests over a news debate that I watched before writing this with his pliant panelists alongside fullthrottle rattled and upset by obscenity on appsThese blokes who peddle hate and propaganda for daily news on primetime Indian TV also for ratingsmoney are the ones to talkYoursquove probably not watched ALT since it doesnrsquot suit your sensessensibility I donrsquot watch the crazy news channels And thatrsquos the firstprinciple argument against any kinda content ban noItrsquos not the exit of these apps but the entry of the state with a seeming publicconsensus on censorship that could cause concern for the likemindedFor once precedence is recurrently set how do you draw the moral line let alone define obscenityAnd wasnrsquot vulgarity allowed in the original Cinematograph Act that certifies feature films for theatrical releases anyway How do you distinguish between vulgarity and obscenity an Instagram thirsttrap and Kavita Bhabi in a saree on UlluMust seek legal advice Entertainment lawyer Tanu Banerjee partner Khaitan amp Co tells me ldquoWhile this ban was basis a report prepared in conjunction with multiple ministries plus FICCI and CII consulted what it says isnrsquot in public recordldquoGiven their content across though these apps may find it difficult be able defend themselves in court against obscenity chargesrdquoIs the state well within its right to ban outright ldquoYesrdquo As and when at its own willBanerjee says ldquoThese apps could argue if the government can unilaterally decide what adults cancanrsquot watch and that producers have creative freedomldquoBut then sexually explicit content is prohibited under law and the government does have the power to block access in the interest of national security public order etcrdquoAs in an emergency In this case what was the emergency Is there an empirically established direct causal relationship between sexual crimes and softpornOn this point Shakespeare vehemently butts in ldquoBack when Nirbhaya happened were these apps around They just took off during the 202o21 lockdownrdquo Irsquove muted Shakespeare but hersquos rightI did first hear of Ullu in the context of a rare positive business story emerging from the pandemic when its customerbase ldquoboomedrdquo at 250 per cent in the first two months before ldquoreaching normalrdquo that is 60 per cent dayonday growth charging users Rs 36 for five days and Rs 198 a yearWhich is what Ullursquos Lucknowbased suitedbooted founder Vibhu Agarwal told me while holding talks for content tieups in 18 countries then and planning to move to Australia himselfI donrsquot know if hersquoll push back the way Americarsquos legendary pornpublisher Larry Flynt Hustler had a profound impact on the US First Amendment freedom of expression law in 1984Agarwalrsquos funda was quite simple ldquoIrsquom just an Agarwal with business in my bloodrdquo Well the bloodrsquos stopped streamingMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass cultureHe tweets mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper