The Modi government is set to clip the powers of the Censor Board. The government is preparing to amend the Cinematograph Act — as per the recommended by the Shyam Benegal Committee — to curtail the powers of Central Board of Film Certification.
As per the proposed amendments being brought in, the CBFC is likley to lose its powers to recommend cuts to films and is expected to be made only a film certification body.
Its operational would be restricted to categorising the suitability of the film to audience groups on the basis of age and maturity
The move to curtail the powers of the Censor Board was initaited after it was embroiled in several controversies over recommendations of cuts to various moives, including its recent directive making 93 cuts to Udta Punjab.
Sources stated that the government is preparing to amend the Cinematograph Act and will have a committee in the CBFC would be mandated to certify the films submitted to it. There is also a proposal to form a second committee to monitor the content of these film and this is likley to be confined to “pertain to national interest and security”.
The certification of films is also likely to be changed with different classifications like U/A, plus 12 years of age, plus 15 years of age and two categories of adult, one is normal adult and another adult with caution
The government is also considering bringing in simplification of processes of certification by allowing out-of-turn certification for which the applicant is expected to be charged five times the fee that would have to be paid if the certification were done in the normal course.
The Shyam Benegal committee was constituted by the information and broadcasting ministry on January 1 to take a relook at the functioning of the controversy-ridden board.
