Nandini Sardesai, CBFC memberWhen the government brought Shyam Benegal on board the panel, they must have obviously known that he has always been anti-censorship. We now know how to slot our films and the kind of audience we cater too. 

Another important change that is needed is to reform in how the board's members are chosen. Within the board, I along with Chandraprakash (Dwivedi) and a few other members have been extremely vocal about censorship and we were insulation boards Suppliers the first to raise a voice when Nihalani introduced that list of cuss words to be ‘banned’. 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. It was only after Pahlaj Nihalani took over that all these problems have come up. 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. 

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. 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. Headed by veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, the panel set up in January left the industry brimming with positivity about the changes to come. That is why we were sidelined within the board and weren’t even shown any movies to review. The film certification needed a revision and this will definitely be better for the filmmakers. And from what we hear, this is not the only change Benegal’s panel has proposed to the union minister. And Shyam ji (Benegal), Rakeysh ji (Omprakash Mehra) are all successful filmmakers who understand the field, so you can’t disregard their recommendations. 

A number of progressive steps may soon be taken, including a re-look at how members are selected and also having culturally diverse panels. On whether his panel's recommendations will fructify, it was the government that appointed him and the other members of the panel. I am sure that in another two or three months, we will be seeing big changes being implemented. However, I am very positive about this new change and there’s enough reason to be hopeful. 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.

But that is only the first step. 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. 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 just like it is with his films, Benegal surely doesn’t disappoint.

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 ge Vikram Bhatt’s latest film Love Games faced issues with the CBFC. 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. 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. Bejoy Nambiar, DirectorThis is certainly a welcome change

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