The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory censorship and classification body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. According to a recent report, the Indian Censor board is considered one of the most powerful bodies of film certification in the world due to its strict regime and ways of functioning.
When filmmakers have to depend on a government body that clearly lacks expertise in contemporary art and its implications on the lives of people, it only makes a statement on how underfunded and undervalued the Indian art community is; despite being one of the world’s leading producers of cinema, the films that actually matter and the films that do make an impact without resorting to pandering, hero-worship, or sexist stereotypes to appeal to an already conditioned mass audience, are few and far between.
The censor board has run into trouble with contemporary filmmakers in the past with the ban on Udta Punjab (2016) causing the biggest ruckus and its latest victim being Prakash Jha’s award-winning film, Lipstick Under my Burkha (2016). Unless the board certifies the film, it cannot be screened in theatres. The biggest irony among the reasons that the board listed for not certifying the film has to be “the story is lady-oriented, their fantasy above life.”
I am not going to argue that at least 60-70% of the films that come out of regional markets are male-oriented and when supposed demigods beat up 15-20 men in an attempt to prove their masculinity — which in itself is part-myth-part-fantasy. Instead, I am going to take this opportunity to illustrate to the world where Indian films could have only scenes from real lives, never exaggerated or fantastical versions of it?
Dhanush films (arguably the biggest noisemaker) that justify stalking as a real-life interpretation of a boy asking a girl out will not certified because in real life, when a boy stalks a girl in an attempt to win her over, he’ll be thrown in jail because stalking is a crime, no matter how harmless cinema portrays it to be. Films where the heroine or the female protagonist is a personification of the manic pixie trope will be banned because women are people, not sidekicks who keep validating male insecurities by being unrealistic around them.
And finally, when the men in the film woo the women with their sexist, double-toned innuendo and borderline creepy charm, they will be turned down by the women in the film because forming a character arc that goes from being creepy to winning the girl by being creepy is not a valid representation of real life. Because in real life, women are not objects to ‘win’ over. They are human beings who can speak and make decisions for themselves without the men around them dictating their lives and livelihoods.
Refusing to certify a film because it is ‘lady-oriented’ is downright embarrassing and regressive. Repeat after me — women are people, women are human beings, they deserve the same rights that you and I have. We need to constantly keep acknowledging our privilege, and this privilege includes 90% of films that come out in India being male-centric.
(When he isn’t writing, the creative producer with The Rascalas watches a lot of ‘cat videos’ on YouTube)