Bollywood Watches new Censor Board Antics With Concern

NEW DELHI: The new Central Board of Film Certification is moving, with considerable rapidity, from one crisis to another with the members suffering from what the social media describes graphically as ‘verbal diarrhoea’ and Bollywood looks upon with considerable trepidation and anger.

The last Censor Board as it is of course no longer called officially resigned en masse when its chief Leela Samson put in her papers. That she did so after coming under pressure from the NDA government to censor the controversial film PK, and for hesitating to give a certificate to the motorcycle riding rock guru’s MSG is a well known ‘secret’. But that the new members, some of them openly supportive of the Bharatiya Janata Party, are at loggerheads over a yet to be formulated understanding is only just getting to be known, with Bollywood directors, editors and actors in particular worried about what this ‘chaos’ as one of them put it, will spell for creativity and the film industry as a whole.

The initial fight back has gone in favour of the Bollywood film industry, with the new officials backing off at least to some extent. However, the worry within the film industry has only intensified as no one spoken to felt it was the end of the matter. “This will continue” seemed to be the emerging consensus, as Bollywood watches in relative silence the Censor Board officials squabbling amongst themselves, and posting offensive comments on the social media against each other as well as movie directors and others in the industry. However, given the power that the Central Board of Film Certification has to make or break a movie, and with it the crew’s future, no one was willing to go on the record on the issue. At least, as one of them said, not just yet.

CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani sought to flex his muscles by releasing a list of cuss words that should not be used in a movie. One of the words was also Bombay with the proscription that it could only be used as Mumbai leading producers to ask how a movie made in a setting when Mumbai was still Bombay for instance, take the new word instead of the old? Editors found themselves carrying the list of words went they went into the editing studio, with every other sentence being edited out of the movie but as one of them said, fortunately it did not last too long. And as the protest intensified, and the murmurings grew Nihalani was forced to withdraw the list, for now.

Members of the Board itself were at loggerheads, with one Ashoke Pandit of “ABRoast” fame where his offensive tweets against director and producer Karan Johar went viral, protesting loudly both in and outside. He claimed that he had not been consulted by Nihalani, and did not endorse the ban. Pandit is a director and producer, and is extremely vocal on his Facebook Page and on Twitter. He joined direct issue with the Censor Board chief saying, The list of words 'not to be used in films' issued by the Chairperson is against the freedom & creative liberty of a filmmaker. #CBFC

- Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 13, 2015

And again, If I am portraying the character of Dawood in my film, he will use the language as per his character & not what a saint would use. #CBFC

- Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 13, 2015

The List that got Bollywood against the new government Censors!

But this was after Pandit himself was in the eye of a storm for breaching all limits of propriety in his response to the popular show AIB Knockout that for some reason invited his criticism for bad language. Here Karan Johar seemed to be the target with Pandit’s tweet generating a storm of protest on the social media with a demand for his removal from the Board altogether. Pandit in a very indecent and ugly tweet said, “Karan Johar could have easily shown his position while performing sex to his mom at home instead of making it public. #AIB Porn Show.”

Pandit even brought in the threat of police action with one tweet where he wanted to know whether the cops had given permission to All India Bakchod to hold the event asking “even after they knew what B stands for.” He also wanted to know whether the ‘authorities’ had given permission. Pandit himself in known in the industry for bringing in protesters to stop screenings of movies he did not agree with in the past.

Almost as if on cue a complaint against AB was filed by a Mumbai resident, and the police started an enquiry. However, the storm of protest on the social media with political parties joining in finally put a stop to the nonsense with Cultural Affairs Minister Vinod Tawde saying there would not be any “moral policing.”

The BJP has packed the Board with party members, giving a go bye to norms of impartiality and creativity T Telugu actress Jeevitha Rajashekar was the BJP's spokesperson in Telangana. And like the chief Nihalani, is loud in her praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally. She released a song for him, with Nihalani of course more qualified in having made videos of PM Modi. Nihalani described himself as “inspired supporter” of the BJP. And heralded the Prime Minister as “my hero, my action hero.”

Tamil playwright and actor SV Shekhar left the AIADMK to join the BJP in 2013. Actor Vani Tripathi Tikoo is the national secretary of the BJP. Actor George Baker joined the BJP recently.Journalist Ramesh Patange is an ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. And of course Pandit himself whose Facebook Page professes his support for PM Modi.

Others include Syed Abdul Bari, the Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Gujarat and Mihir Bhuta, a Gujarati writer.

The power of the Board is considerable, with unvoiced consternation gripping the film industry after the incidents above. Well known filmmaker Saeed Mirza told The Citizen that filmmakers with a conscience will be the first to be impacted adversely. He said that he himself had always been against censorship, saying that at most the Board should set out categories and place the films in these accordingly, ranging from the U for Universal to A plus. Beyond this, he said, the Board should have no powers or the ability to intervene in the content of a movie.