Benegal panel on Censor Board revamp meets Jaitley

The Shyam Benegal committee, formed to look into the revamp of Censor Board, on Saturday met Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley here and discussed the possible changes in guidelines for clearing movies.

“The crux of the meeting with the minister on Saturday was how the committee would function and work on what the guidelines and policies should be like of the Censor Board while clearing a movie. There might be amendments and changes in the (existing) guidelines,” Benegal said.

Apart from Jaitley, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh 

Rathore was also present. Benegal said that the committee also discussed the scope of Censor Board.

“The committee will submit its report in two months to the government,” he said.

The government had on January 1 constituted the panel to look into the revamp of the Censor Board functioning which has been mired in controversies in the recent past.

The panel includes filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, adman Piyush Pandey and film critic Bhawana Somaaya. National Film Development Council MD Nina Lath Gupta and Joint Secretary (Films) Sanjay Murthy are also part of the panel.

The chairman of the committee has made it clear that it will address concerns of the film industry.

“The main thing is that the attempt should be not to use scissors. India is a complex country so guidelines have to be formed carefully but you have to be careful not to become censorious,” said Benegal, advocating the use of the term ‘certification board’ instead of censor board for the CBFC. On the other hand, Rathore expressed confidence that the committee would provide a holistic framework for interpretation of the provisions of Cinematograph Act and Rules for the benefit of the chairperson and other members of the CBFC Screening Committee.

Benegal said there is a need to move towards a new system of grading films in terms of age, maturity, sensibility and sensitivity instead of censorship. He said they also discussed how the committee would function and work on what the guidelines and policies should be like of the Censor Board while clearing a movie. “There might be amendments and changes in the (existing) guidelines,” Benegal added.

The committee will study the existing procedure being followed by CBFC for certification of original films, their dubbed versions as well as recertification of films for screening on other media platforms.