We don't need film censorship, shun it

Increasingly, India’s filmmakers are having to die a thousand deaths when their movies go to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), realistically called the Censor Board. For, they never know what the mandarins in the board have in store for them. Ironically, for all its claims that India is a liberal democracy with a vast space for free speech, there are restrictions galore, many internalised to the point where they are no longer recognised as being restrictive. Censorship, for instance, is anathema to free expression but continues to exist.

The CBFC, especially since the advent of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, under its chief Pahlaj Nihalani has gone to ludicrous extents to wield its scissors, if not clamp outright bans. The latest cuts of kissing scenes in the James Bond starrer “Spectre” has evoked derisive reaction from the film fraternity and the movie-going audience. Nihalani and his coterie have indulged in moral policing. The board has definitely gone beyond its brief in deciding what people should see, whether they are capable of handling what they see etc. In fact, the question can and should be asked as to who are this group of people at the CBFC and what gives them the right to decide for others. As eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal has suggested, and correctly, censorship has to be abolished forthwith. The CBFC should do what its name suggests, which is to merely certify films.

If there are scenes of excessive violence and sex, the board should merely classify it as suitable for adult (18+) viewing. There could be various degrees of audience entry depending on what a film portrays. This is what countries like the US and the UK follow, and they have managed it successfully. In the US, film classification itself is not mandatory. Having been a democracy for the last nearly 70 years, Indian audiences have definitely matured and are capable of making their own decisions whether to view a particular film or not. Contrary to what one might think, in the US experience, films that have been placed in a highly restrictive viewership category (NC-17) have reportedly never succeeded at the box office. What this indicates is that most people will voluntarily avoid seeing anything excessive. This tends to have a moderating effect on filmmakers. More importantly, the US rating board is managed by the industry and the administration has no role in it. The Indian government must immediately modify the powers of the CBFC, delink itself from the board, enable it to only certify films and stop the board from either deleting scenes or banning movies outright.