THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The filmmakers in the State have to walk a fine line to get their films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which has insufficient members. Since last month, the number of members has come down to 10, which was around 65 before.
As per the guidelines, a panel of five members should be present for every sitting (censoring). Of that, one member should be the examining officer and two members should be females. Now, there are only two members, Shahida Kamal and Bindu Balakrishnan, available to attend the censoring of every movie that comes before the Board.
Female Members
The female members are supposed to assess the content of the movies, and object if there are any scenes that portray women in a derogatory manner. According to a source, currently, the censoring of movies is being done according to the availability of the two members.
“If any of the two members is not able to attend the screening the whole procedure would be affected. It is mandatory that two female representatives should be present for every screening,” the source said.
The tenure of a CBFC member is two years. They are usually nominated by MPs from the State, and the nominations are then sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. People from the fields of Medicine, Teaching, Cinema, Literature and Research are usually nominated to the panel. Normally, the panels are instituted after every general election, taking into account the government at the Centre. During the tenure of the UPA Government, there was a marked increase in the number of politicians as members of the censoring panel.
Censoring Delayed
However, after the defeat of the UPA in the recent Lok Sabha election, most of the members quit from the panel, leading to the current crisis. “Most of the movies produced in the State are usually sent for censoring 2-3 days before the release date. If the censoring is not done on time the producers would be forced to postpone the release date,” said a producer who did not want to reveal his name.
“We cannot force the female members who are currently available to come for every screening. The situation needs to change as many movies are getting ready to hit theatres as festival releases,” he added.
According to M Jacob Abraham, examining officer at CBFC, procedures for selecting new members have already started.
“Nominations for 55 new members have been sent to the Ministry. They will be posted soon after the procedures are completed,” he added.
