Shoojit Sircar returns to social media: Wanted some sanity, had to get out

Year 2020 was harsh on everyone due to the pandemic, and more so for Bollywood because after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June, there was a lot of hate and anger that film industry was subjected to. The social media toxicity that ensued led to many celebrities take a break from Twitter. Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar was one of them, however, he says he had his own reasons.

“If you want to be sane and concentrate on your work, you need to get out of that space. There was too much happening and the pandemic only made it worse. Irrfan left us (April 29). I was already disturbed. Then Gulabo Sitabo’s release on OTT drew flak and also from the film industry. I thought let me get out of it first,” reveals filmmaker, who announced his social media sabbatical on June 22.

Though Sircar returned to the world of social media on January 3, he says if things get bad, he won’t mind taking a break again.

“You can try to avoid these to an extent, but it does affect you. The kind of foul language people used, wasn’t apt for a public platform. I didn’t want to be in that muddy well and wanted some peaceful time,” he adds.

Expressing gratitude to those who welcomed him back, Sircar confesses he didn’t miss out on anything. “In fact, I felt more relived and relaxed,” he quips, and continues, “I was getting all the necessary updates on the internet, TV and newspapers. There are many ups, but sometimes a lot of manipulative waste goes into your head via social media. That disturbs you.”

Not paying heed to trolls, the Piku director emphasises on how everyone needs to behave responsibly on social media.

“It should be up to you, what you want and what’s rational for you. Also, when you have so many followers, you need to be responsible. Especially the film industry... a lot of people look up to you. I can’t just say I don’t care it’s my life and I’ll lead it my way,” he says.

One good thing that this break did for Sircar was, it helped him concentrate on editing his next film, a biopic on Sardar Udham Singh. While the release date isn’t yet out, talks are on if it’ll be a theatrical or an OTT release.

“We want to release it in theatres. We had the same intention with Gulabo Sitabo, but the situation was different. Though the response was good, many were against us releasing it on OTT. But then, many 2020 films took the same route. So, we need to be open; we can’t deny that OTT has seen a change in consumption pattern,” he concludes.

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Author tweets @Shreya_MJ