Prime Video yesterday issued a clarification in response to filmmaker Shekhar Kapur’s claims that the streamer had chopped parts of his film ‘Bandit Queen’ without his permission, saying it had not made any edits to the version available on the platform.
In a statement, a Prime Video spokesperson said the streaming version of the 1994 movie was provided by NH Studioz, its distributor, a PTI report stated yesterday.
“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,” the Prime Video spokesperson said in a statement.
On March 18, Kapur alleged that the streaming version of ‘Bandit Queen’ is “unrecognisable” from the movie he originally directed and that it was edited without his permission.
“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?” he wrote.
Critically acclaimed ‘Bandit Queen’ revolved around the life of Phoolan Devi, the dreaded Chambal dacoit-turned-Member of Parliament. Actor Seema Biswas played the titular role in the film, which generated a massive worldwide buzz following its premiere in Directors’ Fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.