Following is the full text of an evocative speech given by the Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) of India, on cinema and censorship on the 14th of June 2011.
The video of this speech is here:
The Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sri. Prithviraj Chavanji, The Addnl. Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Sri Rajiv Takruji, the Chairman, CII National Committee on Media and Entertainment and Chairman Reliance Entertainment Shri. Amit Khanna, eminent artists - directors, producers, playwrights, actors, the Chief Executive Officer of the CBFC, Ms Pankaja Thakur, regional officers of the CBFC, members of the press and friends,
May I extend a very warm welcome to each of you present here this morning? I thank you for coming, for sparing your time to deliberate on what is dear to all of us – cinema. I feel greatly privileged to be here, for I have only read about most of you, admired you from afar and been dazzled by the glamour we other mortals simply do not possess! It is therefore with respect and appreciation that I welcome you all to Samvaad, a day-long seminar that we have convened in very proud and satisfying partnership with the Media Division of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Observing the diversity of backgrounds from which we have all converged here –I am confident that the quality of the samvaad during the course of the day will be edifying and forward thinking.
As representatives involved in creating the most accessible form of art to entertainment with the widest reach, it is important for us to meet and understand each other assess where we are headed – as a community, as social representatives, and, indeed, as a nation. The badge of the largest film producing country in the world is worn by us all with immense pride. With it comes a degree of responsibility, for ours is an evolving society – on the economic, social and education front. It is also a society that is deeply rooted in strong traditions of art and philosophy.
To be honest with you, as a person with a background in the classical arts of our country, when I was asked to serve this organization, one of the first things that caught my eye was the logo – it was a sliced film. To me, it denoted a certain presumptuous and aggressive intent that baffled me. This is not what the organization is about surely? I asked myself. Is it still an organization with a rulebook authored by hardliners, with no hold over reality?
But gone are the days when Indian filmmakers were plunged into bitter litigation, passionately defending their inalienable right to the freedom of expression, as in the firestorm of controversy over Shri. K. A. Abbas’ film The Tale of Four Cities. The dispute included, among other things, the right of the filmmaker to show a woman’s knees, the transactional exchange of currency notes between a prostitute and her client, (only hands were shown) and her symbolic closing of the window. From there to the films of today, we have come a long way indeed.
A Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in 1995 held that the freedom to air one's view is the lifeline of any democratic constitution and any attempt to stifle, suffocate or gag this right would sound a death-knell to democracy.
To do justice to my job, I have been educating myself in numerous cases related to the art of cinema and read the various judgements of the very honorable judges and courts of our country, and while I wondered how my artist friends who went to court for their films read through those copious pages of judgement, I found that I was fascinated by them. I cannot resist quoting from a couple of them.
The Honourable Justice Krishna Iyer has said,
Surely, the satwa of society must rise progressively if mankind is to move towards its timeless destiny and this can be guaranteed only if the ultimate value-vision is rooted in the unchanging basics, Truth - Goodness - Beauty, Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram. Social scientists and spiritual scientists will broadly agree that man lives not by mystic, ascetic chants alone, but by luscious love of Beauty, sensuous joy of companionship and moderate non-denial of normal demands of the flesh.
The learned judge in Naraindas v. State of Madhya Pradesh 1974 said,
It is our firm belief, nay a conviction which constitutes one of the basic values of a free society to which we are wedded under our Constitution, that there must be freedom not only for the thought that we cherish, but also for the thought that we hate.
The standards that we set for our censors must make a substantial allowance in favour of freedom thus leaving a vast area for creative art to interpret life and society with some of its foibles along with what is good.
To ensure that we tap into the extraordinary wealth of experience and expertise that we have gathered here, today’s agenda has been structured along two sessions. The first of these, Samman, will allow us the opportunity to introspect about the vast power that movies wield in society, and the need to explore how freedom of expression can be most judiciously tapped into while taking into account the sensibilities of the artiste as well as those of society. This session is to be opened by Shri Yash Chopra-ji, and will be moderated by Shri. Shyam Benegal-ji. I thank both of you warmly Sirs, for honouring us thus.
The second session, Sopaan, will go into the challenges facing cinema and the challenges of classification. The medium of cinema is a dynamic, evolving medium. It is a barometer of social norms and emerging practices. Many a time, films, in holding up a mirror to today’s practices, herald the practices and norms of tomorrow. This session will feature Shri. Amit Khanna, Chairman, CII, Shri. Prahlad Kakkar, ad film maker and Smt. Shabana Azmi. May I thank each of you for what I am sure is going to be a fiery and totally engaging discussion.
Both sessions will feature eminent panelists who bring with them potent and diverse views which would all go towards helping us understand the industry and how it will face its challenges while respecting the society which it aims to reflect and comment on. My gratitude to the panel members as well, who will breathe life into the idea of sensibilities, for the complex and layered nation that India is. I look forward to listening to you today.
As a dancer, yes, a nachaniya, and a proud one too, I am often looked upon by my progressive, intellectual friends as conservative and traditional, and therefore far removed from contemporary mediums of art, like films. So I believed it was us who are stranded in a past that is irreconcilable with the present. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that the film industry is governed by the Cinematograph Act, of 1952! Ah! Sweet revenge! That the most technologically advanced and cool industry in India is caught in its own time warp!
So, before we go into dialogue mode, I would like to propose a few changes. First, that we, all of us cease to identify the board loosely as ‘the censor board of India’, which is how we commonly refer to the board. May I remind all of you that it is ‘the certification board’ and not ‘the censor board’?
It might also be prudent to recommend to our Ministry and to the Government that instead of the ‘Central Board of Film Certification’, we call ourselves the ‘Indian Board of Film Classification’? We have moved emphatically into the global mainstream, and our nation has gained in stature in the global fellowship of nations, the tag of Central from our current name has little relevance abroad. Perhaps we may consider replacing it with ‘Indian’, which is what we are so proud to be.
And since we are contemplating change, perhaps we ought to move from that of certification to that of ‘classification’, for classification is about identifying, recognizing and catering to the needs of different target audiences. By moving our focus from certification to classification, we could aim to provide the filmmaking fraternity with the tools to reach out to their target consumer.
In order that we move forward in an atmosphere of complete transparency, we are delighted to announce that the process for applying for the classification of a film can soon be initiated online and that the online process will also include a cut-off date by which the classification will be made. The classification certificate will also be online.
There is also the cause of the documentary filmmaker that we need to deliberate upon. These men and women deal with subjects that are close to their hearts and to the conscience of society, with no certainty of pay-back. There is no pocket theatre culture in the country, no patience in civil society to view this genre of film. We are looking at introducing a new fee structure for the documentary and certification guidelines that are different. This is a process. In the meantime we plan to train and sensitize the examining officers and advisory panel members towards documentary appreciation and certification.
It has been decided that films certified in 3D format need not be recertified in 2D. This will save production house time and money. The logo of CBFC and the Censor Certificate are being redesigned by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. I think you will like the change!
We all eagerly await the amendments to the Cinematograph Act. The changes that our Ministry are contemplating are intended to reflect positive change and to contemporize the new Bill. Soon after the amendments are introduced, we plan to launch an awareness campaign for our end users, i.e. the audience. It is my personal experience that public/ audience in general still does not understand the meaning of UA category. Similarly, an A rated film is still considered to be sleazy/ inappropriate, which is not true. There are a whole lot of other factors that fetch a film an A rating and some of these films are classy and highly recommended viewing for adult audience. We hope to get the industry’s support in our awareness campaigns, workshops and seminars.
As much as we would like to be a certification or classification body alone, we are concerned about a growing trend of extremely violent cinema especially the regional language cinema. Similarly, it has been brought to my notice that the Bhojpuri films/ songs picturization and lyrics are almost pornographic. We have decided to take corrective measures and we hope we have industry and civil society’s backing on this.
Through seminars and interactions such as this, I hope we are able to find working solutions for most, if not all the issues that currently exist between the CFBC and industry. If the filmmakers adopt self-restraint in regard to issues sensitive to our nation, it will help CBFC evolve as a certification body true to its name. Let us work towards this.
I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my predecessors who had the interests of the industry at heart, as well as the sensibilities of society. Some of these ideas and the process towards the formulation of the new Bill, which is proposed to be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament this year, was what they worked to see become a reality.
With the passing of one of the greatest artistes of our time, the incomparable Maqbool Fida Husain, may we remind ourselves, as Mr. N.Ram so poignantly put it in a requiem for M.F.Hussain, that his quiet and dignified passing in a London hospital brings to a close one of the sorriest chapters in independent India’s secular history. I know no one more genuinely and deeply committed to the composite, multi-religious, and secular values of Indian civilization than M.F.Hussain. He breathed the spirit of modernity, progress and tolerance. The whole narrative of what forced him into exile, including the failure of the executive and the legal system to enable his safe return, revolves round the issues of freedom of expression and creativity and what secular nationhood is all about.
Let the people of India pay their respects to a great son who, rising from humble origins, used his prodigious talent and creativity to portray and celebrate all that is diverse and wonderful about this country and the historical civilization it represents.
I would like to conclude by affirming that I stand before you all as a friend open to dialogue, and whose doors will always be open to you for discussion and debate. I am not here as a bureaucrat or as a government official, but as an artist, first and last. Welcome once again to this seminar. May our debates be vigorous, our speakers fearless and the cause of good cinema our only maqsad.
The video of this speech is here:
The Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sri. Prithviraj Chavanji, The Addnl. Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Sri Rajiv Takruji, the Chairman, CII National Committee on Media and Entertainment and Chairman Reliance Entertainment Shri. Amit Khanna, eminent artists - directors, producers, playwrights, actors, the Chief Executive Officer of the CBFC, Ms Pankaja Thakur, regional officers of the CBFC, members of the press and friends,
May I extend a very warm welcome to each of you present here this morning? I thank you for coming, for sparing your time to deliberate on what is dear to all of us – cinema. I feel greatly privileged to be here, for I have only read about most of you, admired you from afar and been dazzled by the glamour we other mortals simply do not possess! It is therefore with respect and appreciation that I welcome you all to Samvaad, a day-long seminar that we have convened in very proud and satisfying partnership with the Media Division of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Observing the diversity of backgrounds from which we have all converged here –I am confident that the quality of the samvaad during the course of the day will be edifying and forward thinking.
As representatives involved in creating the most accessible form of art to entertainment with the widest reach, it is important for us to meet and understand each other assess where we are headed – as a community, as social representatives, and, indeed, as a nation. The badge of the largest film producing country in the world is worn by us all with immense pride. With it comes a degree of responsibility, for ours is an evolving society – on the economic, social and education front. It is also a society that is deeply rooted in strong traditions of art and philosophy.
To be honest with you, as a person with a background in the classical arts of our country, when I was asked to serve this organization, one of the first things that caught my eye was the logo – it was a sliced film. To me, it denoted a certain presumptuous and aggressive intent that baffled me. This is not what the organization is about surely? I asked myself. Is it still an organization with a rulebook authored by hardliners, with no hold over reality?
But gone are the days when Indian filmmakers were plunged into bitter litigation, passionately defending their inalienable right to the freedom of expression, as in the firestorm of controversy over Shri. K. A. Abbas’ film The Tale of Four Cities. The dispute included, among other things, the right of the filmmaker to show a woman’s knees, the transactional exchange of currency notes between a prostitute and her client, (only hands were shown) and her symbolic closing of the window. From there to the films of today, we have come a long way indeed.
A Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in 1995 held that the freedom to air one's view is the lifeline of any democratic constitution and any attempt to stifle, suffocate or gag this right would sound a death-knell to democracy.
To do justice to my job, I have been educating myself in numerous cases related to the art of cinema and read the various judgements of the very honorable judges and courts of our country, and while I wondered how my artist friends who went to court for their films read through those copious pages of judgement, I found that I was fascinated by them. I cannot resist quoting from a couple of them.
The Honourable Justice Krishna Iyer has said,
Surely, the satwa of society must rise progressively if mankind is to move towards its timeless destiny and this can be guaranteed only if the ultimate value-vision is rooted in the unchanging basics, Truth - Goodness - Beauty, Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram. Social scientists and spiritual scientists will broadly agree that man lives not by mystic, ascetic chants alone, but by luscious love of Beauty, sensuous joy of companionship and moderate non-denial of normal demands of the flesh.
The learned judge in Naraindas v. State of Madhya Pradesh 1974 said,
It is our firm belief, nay a conviction which constitutes one of the basic values of a free society to which we are wedded under our Constitution, that there must be freedom not only for the thought that we cherish, but also for the thought that we hate.
The standards that we set for our censors must make a substantial allowance in favour of freedom thus leaving a vast area for creative art to interpret life and society with some of its foibles along with what is good.
To ensure that we tap into the extraordinary wealth of experience and expertise that we have gathered here, today’s agenda has been structured along two sessions. The first of these, Samman, will allow us the opportunity to introspect about the vast power that movies wield in society, and the need to explore how freedom of expression can be most judiciously tapped into while taking into account the sensibilities of the artiste as well as those of society. This session is to be opened by Shri Yash Chopra-ji, and will be moderated by Shri. Shyam Benegal-ji. I thank both of you warmly Sirs, for honouring us thus.
The second session, Sopaan, will go into the challenges facing cinema and the challenges of classification. The medium of cinema is a dynamic, evolving medium. It is a barometer of social norms and emerging practices. Many a time, films, in holding up a mirror to today’s practices, herald the practices and norms of tomorrow. This session will feature Shri. Amit Khanna, Chairman, CII, Shri. Prahlad Kakkar, ad film maker and Smt. Shabana Azmi. May I thank each of you for what I am sure is going to be a fiery and totally engaging discussion.
Both sessions will feature eminent panelists who bring with them potent and diverse views which would all go towards helping us understand the industry and how it will face its challenges while respecting the society which it aims to reflect and comment on. My gratitude to the panel members as well, who will breathe life into the idea of sensibilities, for the complex and layered nation that India is. I look forward to listening to you today.
As a dancer, yes, a nachaniya, and a proud one too, I am often looked upon by my progressive, intellectual friends as conservative and traditional, and therefore far removed from contemporary mediums of art, like films. So I believed it was us who are stranded in a past that is irreconcilable with the present. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that the film industry is governed by the Cinematograph Act, of 1952! Ah! Sweet revenge! That the most technologically advanced and cool industry in India is caught in its own time warp!
So, before we go into dialogue mode, I would like to propose a few changes. First, that we, all of us cease to identify the board loosely as ‘the censor board of India’, which is how we commonly refer to the board. May I remind all of you that it is ‘the certification board’ and not ‘the censor board’?
It might also be prudent to recommend to our Ministry and to the Government that instead of the ‘Central Board of Film Certification’, we call ourselves the ‘Indian Board of Film Classification’? We have moved emphatically into the global mainstream, and our nation has gained in stature in the global fellowship of nations, the tag of Central from our current name has little relevance abroad. Perhaps we may consider replacing it with ‘Indian’, which is what we are so proud to be.
And since we are contemplating change, perhaps we ought to move from that of certification to that of ‘classification’, for classification is about identifying, recognizing and catering to the needs of different target audiences. By moving our focus from certification to classification, we could aim to provide the filmmaking fraternity with the tools to reach out to their target consumer.
In order that we move forward in an atmosphere of complete transparency, we are delighted to announce that the process for applying for the classification of a film can soon be initiated online and that the online process will also include a cut-off date by which the classification will be made. The classification certificate will also be online.
There is also the cause of the documentary filmmaker that we need to deliberate upon. These men and women deal with subjects that are close to their hearts and to the conscience of society, with no certainty of pay-back. There is no pocket theatre culture in the country, no patience in civil society to view this genre of film. We are looking at introducing a new fee structure for the documentary and certification guidelines that are different. This is a process. In the meantime we plan to train and sensitize the examining officers and advisory panel members towards documentary appreciation and certification.
It has been decided that films certified in 3D format need not be recertified in 2D. This will save production house time and money. The logo of CBFC and the Censor Certificate are being redesigned by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. I think you will like the change!
We all eagerly await the amendments to the Cinematograph Act. The changes that our Ministry are contemplating are intended to reflect positive change and to contemporize the new Bill. Soon after the amendments are introduced, we plan to launch an awareness campaign for our end users, i.e. the audience. It is my personal experience that public/ audience in general still does not understand the meaning of UA category. Similarly, an A rated film is still considered to be sleazy/ inappropriate, which is not true. There are a whole lot of other factors that fetch a film an A rating and some of these films are classy and highly recommended viewing for adult audience. We hope to get the industry’s support in our awareness campaigns, workshops and seminars.
As much as we would like to be a certification or classification body alone, we are concerned about a growing trend of extremely violent cinema especially the regional language cinema. Similarly, it has been brought to my notice that the Bhojpuri films/ songs picturization and lyrics are almost pornographic. We have decided to take corrective measures and we hope we have industry and civil society’s backing on this.
Through seminars and interactions such as this, I hope we are able to find working solutions for most, if not all the issues that currently exist between the CFBC and industry. If the filmmakers adopt self-restraint in regard to issues sensitive to our nation, it will help CBFC evolve as a certification body true to its name. Let us work towards this.
I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my predecessors who had the interests of the industry at heart, as well as the sensibilities of society. Some of these ideas and the process towards the formulation of the new Bill, which is proposed to be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament this year, was what they worked to see become a reality.
With the passing of one of the greatest artistes of our time, the incomparable Maqbool Fida Husain, may we remind ourselves, as Mr. N.Ram so poignantly put it in a requiem for M.F.Hussain, that his quiet and dignified passing in a London hospital brings to a close one of the sorriest chapters in independent India’s secular history. I know no one more genuinely and deeply committed to the composite, multi-religious, and secular values of Indian civilization than M.F.Hussain. He breathed the spirit of modernity, progress and tolerance. The whole narrative of what forced him into exile, including the failure of the executive and the legal system to enable his safe return, revolves round the issues of freedom of expression and creativity and what secular nationhood is all about.
Let the people of India pay their respects to a great son who, rising from humble origins, used his prodigious talent and creativity to portray and celebrate all that is diverse and wonderful about this country and the historical civilization it represents.
I would like to conclude by affirming that I stand before you all as a friend open to dialogue, and whose doors will always be open to you for discussion and debate. I am not here as a bureaucrat or as a government official, but as an artist, first and last. Welcome once again to this seminar. May our debates be vigorous, our speakers fearless and the cause of good cinema our only maqsad.
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