The document discusses issues with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in India. It describes how the appointment of Pahlaj Nihalani as the new CBFC chief has exacerbated existing tensions between the board and filmmakers. The board now faces dissent both from filmmakers and within its own committee. Under Nihalani's leadership, the board has proposed banning certain words and imposed many controversial cuts in films, triggering widespread criticism of the board as overstepping its role and censoring content excessively. Many see the board as an outdated institution in need of reform.

1. Current Issues and Challenges Assignment
Submitted to Ms. Shubhda Arora
A Report by Sashank Kini (140065)
The Kerfuffle, Clamourand Khichdi Behind CBFC – A Tale of The Indian
Censor Board
The Indian Censor Board has perennially remained a curious case. For one, it has persistently
faced contention from and derision of Indian filmmakers and ‘progressive’ Indian audiences,
who’ve lambasted the organization for their antediluvian stance towards content in movies,
specifically Bollywood movies. And with former producer Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani taking over as the
new Censor Board chief this year, the situation has exacerbated. The Board now faces as much
dissent from members within the Committee as Aam Aadmi Party, the only difference being that
the latter is more widely covered by mainstream media.
Ashoke Pandit, filmmaker and fellow member of CBFC, has slammed Nihalani as an ‘anarchist’
and ‘tyrant’ on social networking sites. Indian filmmakers unsurprisingly have taken a step
further, holding a meeting with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State for Information
and Broadcasting, to take a call on sacking Nihalani and appointing a "progressive, positive and
responsible" person to chair the Board. There is an online petition as well in this regard. Havells
has found its inspiration in all this, creating an ad campaign for its fans aptly named
#WINDSOFCHANGE that mocks the Censor Board’s mentality.
Now how did Pahlaj Nihalani manage to trigger such unrest in a short span of only four months
since his ascent to power? Well, it began with the dreadful list of ’28 cuss words that need to be
banned or rather bleeped from movies’, which somehow leaked and caused a quite a stir in
media. The list demanded that apart from the more offensive cuss words, milder ones such as
‘saala’ and ‘haramsada’, the use of the word ‘Bombay’ (except in case of period movies) and
double meaning jokes be snipped off completely even from films rated as ‘A’ (only for adult
viewing). A similar move was taken by the conservative Russia about a year back, but in a society
like India, which has always held the candle of democracy, such measures seemed to go against
the fundamental freedom of expression.
The list proposed by Nihalani was put on hold by the I&B ministry, but it hasn’t stopped the
Censor Board from taking certain controversial steps in recent months. Dum Laga Ke Haisha
had the word ‘lesbian’ muted. Badmashiyan had ‘kutte kaminey’ removed. Byomkesh Bakshy had

2. them squealing over the word ‘saala’, while giving the word ‘charas’ (a drug) a pass. Dilliwali
Zaalim Girlfriend had over 63 cuts. And Margarita With a Straw had a straight sex scene cut
down; the Revising Committee did retain a 12 second lesbian kissing scene though. Some
Hollywood movies too couldn’t escape its wrath, with erotic romance 50 Shades of Grey being
banned from Indian cinema halls.
A number of filmmakers and actors have taken to social media to tweet their resentment. Vishal
Bharadwaj accused the Censor Board of behaving like Taliban, Anand Gandhi condemned the
Censor laws for their ambiguity, Hansal Mehta derided their double standards while Kamal
Hassan labelled them ‘unqualified’. Actor Shahrukh Khan has called for a more flexible rating
system that extends beyond the classification of films into 3 categories i.e. U, U/A and A, while
Shyam Benegal has recommended doing away with the Censor Board altogether.
Of course, there are exceptions who haven’t felt the pressure of the Censor Board. The
Hunterrr, a Gulshan Devaiah-starring sex comedy that has performed reasonably well at the box
office, didn’t face much resistance. And Shonali Bose, the director of Margarita With a Straw,
was happy with the Revising Committee’s ‘mature decision to retain the lesbian kissing scene’.
But for most people, the Censor Board is a nuisance, a big obnoxious bug that stings now that
Pahlaj Nihalani’s here. Mr. Shailesh Dave, producer of Sulemaani Keeda, was scathing in his
opinion about the new Censor Board while guest-lecturing at FLAME. He narrated an incident
on how badly he wanted to blast a woman from the committee who asked him ‘Aapke film ko
dekh kar meri beti kya sochegi?’ (‘So don’t let your daughter watch it!’ he replied to her in
exasperation). This incident seems to highlight the fact that tenuous arguments are used by the
Censor Board to justify the censoring of a large amount of content, and decisions aren’t taken
maturely looking into who the film was exactly made for, for example an urbane, open-minded
audience or a traditional family. Rather than addressing the serious issues of sexism and
objectification of women in Bollywood, the Censor Board flips at the mention of ‘saala’ and
believes it’s working towards betterment of Indian society.
The Great Indian Censor Board has always overstepped its role of acting as a certification body
and become a censoring body instead. It has always been embroiled in some or the other
controversy, with the previous Censor Board Chief Rakesh Kumar being arrested for taking
bribes to ensure smooth release of films. There is not one reason for the kerfuffle, clamour and
khichdi behind CBFC, and the future doesn’t seem to show any positive sign either. It can be
concluded that this institution, like most of India’s public institutions, is broken; it still remains a
‘bel gaadi’ even as the nation develops at the speed of light.