CBFC- Central Board of Film Certification is often regarded as the most controversial body in the country. Several incidents in the recent past with regard to the censor certification process will prove this remark right.
Well there are merits & de-merits of this examining & certifying body and in the wake of growing allegations, the central government has appointed a special committee headed by legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal to come up with ideal solutions & suggestions regarding censor certification & the functional aspects of the body. This committee includes eminent personalities like Kamal Hassan, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, Piyush Pandey, Goutam Ghose, Bhawana Somayya and senior officials of I&B Ministry.
This committee submitted their report to the Ministry on Tuesday making some remarkable recommendations. The committee opined that CBFC shouldn’t use scissor cuts any more but instead add two more classification certificates under the U/A category – one plus 12 yrs of age & other plus 15 yrs of age.
The Committee even opined that the CBFC chairperson should only play the role of a guide and shouldn't be interfering in the day-to-day affairs of the certification process. The functions of the board shall be confined to the duties defined in the existing CBFC rules, which include an annual review of CBFC work, submission of annual report to the government, review of public reactions to films, and periodic recommendations for revision of guidelines. However, the committee suggested that CBFC can refuse the certification for any film that breaches the rules defined under Section 5B(1) of Cinematograph Act, 1952.
While the final call on the implementation of these recommendations is to be taken by the I&B Ministry, we have to wait and see how many will be executed.
