Prime Video Responds After Shekhar Kapur Alleges Bandit Queen Was Edited Without His Permission
A few days ago, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur expressed his disappointment over the editing of his 1994 film Bandit Queen on Prime Video without his consent.
Last week, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur alleged that his 1994 film ‘Bandit Queen’ on Prime Video has been cut without his consent. He publicly condemned the streaming platform for editing the movie, questioning whether they would make similar alterations to a Christopher Nolan film without his permission. Now, the streaming platform Prime Video has responded to Kapur’s allegation, saying that they have not made any edits to the film. They claimed that they got this version of the project from the distributor.
Prime Video Reacts To Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen Editing Allegation
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Days after Shekhar Kapur’s allegation, Prime Video denied making any edits to Bandit Queen. Hindustan Times quoted a Prime Video spokesperson saying, “Prime Video has not made any edits to the version of the film Bandit Queen currently streaming on the service. The version available on Prime Video is the version provided by the film’s distributor, NH Studioz."
Shekhar Kapur Claims Bandit Queen Has Been Cut Beyond Recognition On OTT
Shekhar Kapur applauded Netflix’s crime drama series Adolescence on X (formerly Twitter), post which Sudhir Mishra reacted and said that nobody will let them make something like that. In response to this, Shekhar Kapur wrote, “I wonder @IAmSudhirMishra if OTT platforms would let me make #BanditQueen the way I made it years ago. The Bandit Queen on #AmazonPrime is unrecognisable from my film. Someone has cut it beyond recognition. And yet it carries my name as Director. And no one asked me! Are we lesser beings than Western Directors? Would they have the guts to cut a Chris Nolan film without his permission?"
His post garnered a lot of attention, and filmmakers such as Hansal Mehta, Kunal Kohli also reacted to his post. When a netizen asked Shekhar Kapur why OTT would edit his movie since they don’t even have censorship, the filmmaker replied, “But the OTT platform cut the Censored version of #BanditQueen .. I’m not even sure they legally allowed to do that .. they just put out their own version of the film. That’s what’s so painful .. they are not even film makers .. just executives !" When a netizen asked whether the producer could have a role in the editing of Bandit Queen, Shekhar Kapur replied, “The producer has assured me in writing that he has not authorised any cuts to #BanditQueen."
Bandit Queen, based on the life of Phoolan Devi, starred Seema Biswas in the lead role. The film won the National Film Award for the Best Feature Film in Hindi, in 1995. It was also selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
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