AI generated summary, newsroom reviewed
The union government has announced the reconstitution of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), appointing an 18-member panel with immediate effect. The new panel includes actors, musicians, theatre artists, filmmakers and more.
Constituting the new panel are actors Preity Zinta, Suniel Shetty, Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Joshi, Roopali Ganguly, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Pallavi Joshi. Filmmaker Priyadarshan and three-time Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Kej are also among the appointees. The full list of 18 members includes notable film critic Vinod Anupam, director Abhishek Jain, producer Supriya Yarlagadda, poet and writer Yatindra Mishra, National Award-winning filmmaker Neela Madhab Panda, musician Hansraj Hans, actor and author Nishigandha Wad, theatre director and academic Waman Kendre and writer and activist Ramesh Patange.
Of these, Kendre and Patange are the only two members carried over from the previous board.
Previously, the CBFC was last reconstituted in August 2017 for a three-year term. The members continued beyond the three-year term, since reconstitution did not take place. The provisions permitted the members to continue their term until a new panel was appointed.
The outgoing board members included Vidya Balan, Vivek Agnihotri, Gautami Tadimalla, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Jeevitha Rajasekhar, T.S. Nagabharana, former footballer Mihir Bhutia and Naresh Chandra Lal, along with Kendre and Patange. This board continued beyond its original three-year term as members remained in office until successors were appointed, resulting in a gap of nine years before this new reconstitution.
The board faced considerable criticism online recently for modifying Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day days before its release. Clearing the film with a UA 13+ rating, the board mandated the removal of two kissing scenes running for 8 seconds, along with muting select profanities in the English soundtrack and subtitles to align the dialogue with teenage audiences.
CBFC's new panel has been appointed with immediate effect for a period of three years, or until further orders, whichever applies earlier.