This Article is From Jan 09, 2016

Shyam Benegal-Led Censor Board Panel Meets Arun Jaitley

Shyam Benegal-Led Censor Board Panel Meets Arun Jaitley

The comittee is epxected to submit its report within two months.

Mumbai: The committee headed by award-winning filmmaker Shyam Benegal to look into the revamp of the censor board met Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley in Mumbai today. The government had set up the committee on January 1.

The step to form the committee came after multiple several controversies around the Central Board of Film Certification or CBFC.

Pahlaj Nihalani's appointment as chairman of board had drawn much criticism and ridicule, including from the film industry, over several conservative decisions including a list of banned words and removing kissing scenes from the James Bond film Spectre.

At the first meeting of the committee set by the government to reform the board, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley explained the government's point of view to the committee.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajvardhan Singh Rathore told reporters: "The government does not want to decide what people should watch or not watch. The CBFC must decide that. Structuring and administration process of CBFC needs to be looked at and amended if necessary."

Besides Mr Benegal, the committee consists of ad guru Piyush Pandey, filmmaker Rakeysh Mehra, film critic Bhawana Somaiya, National Film Development Council managing director Nina Lath Gupta and Joint Secretary (Films) Sanjay Murthy. It will submit its report in two months.

The chairman of the committee has made it clear that it will address concerns of the film industry.

"The main thing is that the attempt should be not to use scissors. India is a complex country so guidelines have to be formed carefully but you have to be careful not to become censorious," Mr Benegal, advocating the use of the term 'certification board' instead of censor board for the CBFC.
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