The censor board has had a busy year churning out one controversy after the other, be it for the infamous ‘ban-list’ of cuss words (a brainchild of its controversial head Pahlaj Nihlani) or for its generous use of the ‘scissors’ — so much so that it didn’t even spare Bollywood’s ‘Sanskari ambassador’ Sooraj Barjatya. But after a spate of controversies, there finally seems to be some good news on the cards for the CBFC, as the government appointed panel set up to advice changes to the board has submitted its report — and it’s everything the film industry wished for.
Headed by veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, the panel set up in January left the industry brimming with positivity about the changes to come. And just like it is with his films, Benegal surely doesn’t disappoint. In the report he and his team — which includes other prominent members such as Nina Lath Gupta and Bhawana Somaaya — have recently submitted to Union Minister Arun Jaitley, Benegal has unequivocally recommended that the ‘censor’ board’s power to advise cuts be completely done away with and make it a certifying body and not a ‘censoring’ one — a stance he has maintained from even before he came on board the panel. And from what we hear, this is not the only change Benegal’s panel has proposed to the union minister. A number of progressive steps may soon be taken, including a re-look at how members are selected and also having culturally diverse panels. We get industry insiders to weigh in on how likely the panel’s recommendations are to see the light of day and what this means for the future of censorship in the country.
Nandini Sardesai, CBFC member When the government brought Shyam Benegal on board the panel, they must have obviously known that he has always been anti-censorship. He (Benegal) is a good friend of mine and told me that the very first step will be to do away with the idea of censorship. But that is only the first step. He also wants culturally diverse panels for certifying films from different regions because what might be acceptable in say a Kerala, might not be acceptable elsewhere and the same with other regions. Another important change that is needed is to reform in how the board's members are chosen. He made it clear that he wants people who understood films and the industry to be on the board. Right now, the board has members from all kinds of backgrounds and fields. On whether his panel's recommendations will fructify, it was the government that appointed him and the other members of the panel. They will have to listen to him or it will only be seen as a farce.
Bejoy Nambiar, Director This is certainly a welcome change. The film certification needed a revision and this will definitely be better for the filmmakers. We now know how to slot our films and the kind of audience we cater too. Whether the CBFC agrees to implement the suggestions is completely in their hands and I hope they do because these recommendations work well for us.
Akhilesh Jaiswal, Director I think this is a very good move as the CBFC will now start thinking of the audience rather than unnecessarily chopping off the film. During Mastram, we had to remove certain scenes in spite of the fact that we exactly knew who our target audience was, these categories will help and liberate filmmakers.
Ashoke Pandit, CBFC Member The censor board actually never had many problems. It was only after Pahlaj Nihalani took over that all these problems have come up. His actions have made changes necessary. Within the board, I along with Chandraprakash (Dwivedi) and a few other members have been extremely vocal about censorship and we were the first to raise a voice when Nihalani introduced that list of cuss words to be ‘banned’. That is why we were sidelined within the board and weren’t even shown any movies to review. However, I am very positive about this new change and there’s enough reason to be hopeful. Both the ministers at the I & B Ministry, Arun Jaitley and Rajyavardhan Rathore have been pretty vocal from the start about wanting reform in censorship. And Shyam ji (Benegal), Rakeysh ji (Omprakash Mehra) are all successful filmmakers who understand the field, so you can’t disregard their recommendations. I am sure that in another two or three months, we will be seeing big changes being implemented.
