Guwahati – Moral policing, saffron censorship, ghar wapsi, vandalism by saffron ‘youth brigade’ and ordinance raj have become the order of the day in the ‘ache din’ promised by PM Modi as he rode the waves of electoral juggernaut 2014.
Today, the film certification body in India, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has returned to its former name ‘film censor board’. Protests have taken the form of vandalism, and hooliganism in the pretext of saving ‘bharatia sanskriti’ Indian culture. Hallowed democratic discourse has dissolved into hollow saffron propaganda.
What has never happened in the history of Independent India since 1947 has occurred with the former CBFC members resigning en masse protesting the BJP government’s interference in film certification process.
Leela Samson, an acclaimed Bharatnatyam dancer, appointed CBFC chair person in 2011 along with 10 other Board members — Ira Bhaskar, Lora Prabhu, Pankaj Sharma, Rajeev Masand, Sekharbabu Kancherla, Shaji N. Karun, Shubhra Gupta, T.G. Thyagarajan, Mamang Dai and Arundhati Nag put in their papers via a letter to the ministry, citing the “cavalier and dismissive manner” in which the board is treated by the government. M.K. Raina and Anjum Rajabali resigned from the board earlier itself.
The breaking point regarding for their resignation is said to be the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal’s (FCAT) green signal to the release of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s controversial film ‘MSG – The Messenger of God’ despite the decision of the CBFC to deny clearance to the film.
The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Arun Jaitley responded by describing the members as “rebels without a cause” who had politicized routine matters. On Monday 19 January, in the blink of an eye, just four days over the weekend as though following an earlier script, he was quick to appoint a new CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihlani, who made a six-minute promo video for Narendra Modi’s election campaign entitled ‘Har Ghar Modi’. Pahlaj is the older brother of eminent director Govind Nihalani, and has produced films like Aankhen, Talaash: The Hunt Begins, and Shola Aur Shabnam.
The minister also nominated for a 3 year term other people considered “ideologically close” to the party including BJP leader Vani Tripathi Tikoo and writer Mihir Bhuta, who has penned a book Samaajik Samrasta, based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches and writings. Others on the board include BJP sympathiser Ashoke Pandit, Ramesh Patange, Prof. Syed Abdul Bari, Bengali actor George Baker (who unsuccessfully contested on a BJP ticket in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls), actor-filmmaker Jeevitha, actor-playwright S Ve Shekhar and filmmaker Chandra Prakash Dwivedi.
The government has maintained that it does not interfere in the film certification process.
The CBFC is a statutory body under the ministry of I&B, regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of Cinematograph Act 1952.
Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they have been certified by the CBFC.
The Board, consists of non-official members and a Chairman (all of whom are appointed by Central Government) and functions with headquarters at Mumbai. Today, it has nine Regional offices, one each at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cuttack and Guwahati. The Regional Offices are assisted in the examination of films by Advisory Panels. The members of the panels are nominated by Central Government by drawing people from different walks of life for a period of 2 years.
The Certification process is in accordance with The Cinematograph Act, 1952, The Cinematograph (certification) Rules, 1983, and the guidelines issued by the Central government u/s 5(B).
* The author is former member of the CBFC Advisory Panel Kolkata 2007-8, and two term president of Signis India, Catholic Communications Body (1998-2004).