Role Of The Censor Board In Indian Cinema

By :

Abhinav Chhabra(PGDFTP)

Roll no. C-05

The Indian Film Censor Board is a government body in charge of classifying and certifying all motion pictures for public screening in India.

It is officially known as the Central Board of Film Certification (or CBFC).

According to the CBFC website:

"Objectives of film certification are as follows:

(a) the medium of film remains responsible and sensitive to the values and standards of society;

(b) artistic expression and creative freedom are not unduly curbed;

(c) certification is responsible to social changes;

(d) the medium of film provides clean and healthy entertainment; and

(e) as far as possible, the film is of aesthetic value and cinematically of a good standard."

Organization

The censor board has its headquarters in Mumbai but has offices in many states. It is headed

by the Chairman. Usually a mainstream artist or director, having allegiance to the current

political party in power, is nominated by the government to this post. It is currently headed

by Sharmila Tagore. The board is often involved in controversies, a recent one being firing

of Anupam Kher, from its chairperson post, a move viewed as political by the ruling Congress

Party. 

It is also criticized by the liberal artist groups in India for its attempts to suppress and censor

documentaries exposing the government, its attempts to placate various regional and

religious groups, and its failure to defend artists and directors from violence and vandalism by

outraged groups.

Very often, a film which is released by the censor board but which is found objectionable by

many sections of the society, is subject to an unofficial boycott in public theaters. Most art

films and documentaries are never released in mainstream cinemas.

Functioning

The board classifies movies according to a sometimes highly subjective criteria.

According to the censor board,

"The Cinematograph Act lays down that a film has to be certified keeping the interests of

sovereignty, integrity and security of India, friendly relations with foreign states, public order,

morality etc. in mind.

Under section 5B(2) the Central Government issues detailed guidelines.

A film is judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact and is examined in

the light of the period depicted in the film and the contemporary standards of the country and

the people to whom the film relates, provided that the film does not deprave the morality of

the audience. Guidelines are applied to the titles of the films also."

ClassificationThe censor board classifies motion pictures in three categories: U, UA and A.

* U classification: No restrictions on public screening or viewing. Most films fall in this

category, even though they might contain graphic scenes of violence or erotic behaviour.

* UA classification: This is analogous to the notice "Parental discretion advised." Anybody can

still watch the movie.

* A classification: Adults only. The term Adult is not defined on the CBFC but it usually means

a person at least 18 years of age. Note that most theaters, including the modern multiplexes

in Indian metros, do not follow the classification by restricting the audience based on age. It is

common to see young children watching "A" movies. "A" movies are shown on Indian

television channels also. The state owned television channels usually show such movies late

at night and not during the daytime.

The certificate issued by the board is usually shown as a still image at the beginning of a

movie. The advertisements shown in a movie theater are also classified and the certificate is

shown before their screening. The policy regarding movie trailers is not clear.

Explicit scenes

There is a marginal adult movie industry in India (mostly concentrated in the Southern states)

which do show a lot of upper body nudity (breasts) of porn actresses. Such movies are

classified as "A" movies but are not shown in mainstream theaters. The production standards

of such movies are extremely poor.

Since the late eighties, the censor board has become more tolerant of explicit scenes. Earlier,

even an "A" movie could not contain any scenes of breasts or any prolonged sexual scenes.

The censorship in mainstream movies is usually self-imposed by the film producers, or due to

the traditional nature of the cast, explicit scenes (e.g. lip-to-lip kissing) used to be extremely

rare. 

Showing of one's breasts was unheard of. It is alleged that in the recent movie "Shaque" bare

breasts have been shown (unverified).

Conclusion

According to the Supreme Court of India :

“Film censorship becomes necessary because a film motivates thought and action and

assures a high degree of attention and retention as compared to the printed word. The

combination of act and speech, sight and sound in semi darkness of the theatre with

elimination of all distracting ideas will have a strong impact on the minds of the viewers and

can affect emotions. Therefore, it has as much potential for evil as it has for good and has an

equal potential to instill or cultivate violent or good behaviour. It cannot be equated with other

modes of communication. Censorship by prior restraint is, therefore, not only desirable but

also necessary”.