Benegal panel set to submit second part of report next week

The Shyam Benegal panel is likely to submit the second part of its report on reforms in film certification process to the I&B ministry next week. In the backdrop of censorship row over film ‘Udta Punjab’, Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley had on Thursday said “some very radical changes” will be announced over the next few days.

The panel had on April 26 submitted the first part of its report, in which it had emphasised that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) should only be a certification body to categorise suitability of the film to audience groups on the basis of age and maturity barring some exceptions.

However, the committee had been given time till June 20 to submit its recommendation on issues relating to clearances to be obtained from the Animal Welfare Board under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and also matters related to depiction of smoking in films.

Benegal said the report would be ready and submitted “well before June 20 which is the last date”.

He said in relation to one of the two issues, panel members needed to travel to Chennai and that work has been done, and the other subject also would be included in the report in a couple of days. The Benegal committee had got a two-month extension for submitting the first part of its report, which is already being vigorously being examined by the I&B Ministry.

Jaitley had on Thursday said that film certification norms have to be liberal and “some very radical changes” will be announced over the next few days. Apart from Apart from Benegal, the committee includes actor Kamal Haasan, filmmakers Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Gautam Ghose, adman Piyush Pandey, film critic Bhawana Somaaya and some officials. Phantom Films, producer of ‘Udta Punjab’, which is aggrieved by an order of the revising committee of the CBFC that suggested changes in the film before its release on June 17, had moved the High Court over the cuts.

The board’s suggestions include removal of abusive words from dialogue, certain words from the songs, references to Punjab and places in the state and deletion of close-up shots of actors injecting the drugs. They also wants the producers to make changes in the disclaimer in the film. The CBFC’s suggestions sparked a political sparring earlier this week, prompting co-producer Anurag Kashyap to ask political parties to stay away from their fight.

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Friday vowed to eradicate drug menace in the state and pledged his support to the film, ‘Udta Punjab’, which is centred around substance abuse. “I will end drug menace in the state and expose the double face of the Akali Dal government in Punjab,” he said. He also signed a petition for allowing the screening of the film in the state. “Ban on Udta Punjab is yet another example of how the Akali-BJP combine has always placed their electoral interest above Punjab,” he said.