mid-day editorial: It's time to usher in a new age in the CBFC

In April, this year, the Shyam Benegal committee report, submitted to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry as part of a suggested revamp of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), had recommended increasing the number of categories of certification as an amendment of the archaic Cinematography Act of 1952.

CBFC chairman Pahlaj Nihalani also claimed that he had suggested upping the certification categories in his letter to the Ministry in February. It is time for the Ministry and Censor Board to see common ground on new categories for films, as the old U/A and UA categories may be obsolete in these times. We need to include more specific age groups - above 15 for instance, or strictly above 21 and even others, so that the filmmaker has more freedom to show what he wants. If a film's content and message is aimed towards the 15-plus age group, it will be a pity if it gets an ‘A' certificate and then the entire teenage demographic has no access to the film.

Our movies have undergone a huge change, especially in recent years. Bold new experimental films are pushing the envelope. Urbane and suave Gen Next filmmakers are exploring themes like homosexuality and extra-marital affairs with a new perspective. The line between art cinema and commercial cinema is a thing of the past. The audience too has changed. Youngsters today are growing up in a very different, brave new world, where social mores have undergone transformation.

We need to look at certification from this prism. The subjective nature of this task automatically means they will never be able to please everyone. Yet, more audience access options means the censor board is recognising and responding to a world in tremendous flux, never more so than in the film industry.