India’s film industries show striking contrasts in the kind of content they produce, according to new data on Censor Board certifications between 2017 and 2025. The analysis, conducted by CBFC Watch, covers nearly 18,000 titles — including feature films, shorts and music videos running longer than an hour — and provides a detailed look at how Indian cinema is being rated, according to a report in The Hindu.
Malayalam films emerged with the highest share of U certificates, marking them as the most “family-friendly” among the country’s major industries. Tamil cinema followed closely. In contrast, Bhojpuri films recorded the smallest proportion of U-rated releases — even lower than English-language films certified in India, an unusual reversal that underscores the adult-oriented tone of much of Bhojpuri output.
When it comes to A-rated content, Telugu and Kannada cinema were the only Indian industries where more than 10% of films were restricted to adults. English-language films, however, topped the list overall, with over 16% of titles earning an A certificate. Malayalam and Tamil films remained comparatively restrained, with fewer than 7% of their releases falling into the adult category.
Among smaller film industries, Odia cinema stood out with around 42% of its films rated U — the highest share across all languages — and just 1.2% rated A, the lowest nationwide. Gujarati cinema followed with only 2.3% of its films classified as adult content.
The study notes that dubbed versions are treated as separate films for certification purposes, meaning a Tamil-to-Odia dub would count as an Odia release. In some cases, different language versions of the same film received different ratings, reflecting the CBFC’s language-specific approach.
Overall, U/A certification continues to dominate Indian cinema. Across every language, more than half of all titles were classified as suitable for general audiences with parental guidance.
