Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; January 24, 2015)

Change is the only thing that is constant, but at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) the more things change, the more they remain the same. Pahlaj Nihalani, the new chief of CBFC — also called Censor Board — has floated a new set of guidelines on certifying films with abusive and violent content. The notification, which has been sent to regional officers of the Board, details a set of abuses in both Hindi and English which will be considered objectionable in films that may have otherwise gotten a ‘U’ or ‘U/ A’ certificates.

“Certain cuss words and abusive words have been shortlisted and will not be passed. A notification on the same has been sent to regional officers across the country,” Nihalani told mid-day. He added that such words cannot be used for the “heck of it.” “There needs to be some context to using them,” he said.

This implies that even an abuse or two in an otherwise innocuous film will land filmmakers an ‘A’ certificate, taking away a huge share of family audiences and people under 18 years of age.

Nihalani’s stance on violence against women is also clear. “Showing women being tortured should be discouraged in cinema. Besides, any scene depicting abuse of a woman will not be allowed to pass,” he said.

Using abuses and derogatory terms against women, especially when uttered by a male, will not be entertained. Sexual words and their connotations – ‘maarna’, ‘lena’ — will also be censored. “I am not going to allow the use of abusive words. It’s not me who is saying it; this is clearly mentioned in the guidelines. The previous officials allowed it and it only added to the corruption in the board. I have come here to eradicate it. One cannot allow anything in the name of realistic cinema,” Nihalani told this paper.

As far as the big R — religion — is concerned, Nihalani said, “We will be sensitising our members on subjects which deal with religious issues and make sure that the right people are there to certify a film. We will make sure no religious sentiments are hurt,” he stated. The film producer spoke against the background of the recent controversy over the film PK, which Hindu religious groups had claimed hurt their sentiments. In fact, it was “religious sentiments” which led to Pahlaj Nihalani said he will not allow any abusive words in films

Nihalani’s appointment, when MSG: The Messenger of God, the film featuring Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda, was cleared by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) after having been rejected by the examining and revising committees of CBFC. The committees had deemed that the film, apart from being a self- advertisement and promoting blind faith, also hurt religious sentiments.

The quick certification of MSG had led to an exodus from the Censor Board, beginning with the chairperson Leela Samson. Samson, in her resignation, had cited “interference, coercion and corruption of panel members and officers of the organisation who are appointed by the Ministry, and having to manage an organisation whose Board has not met for over nine months as the Ministry had ‘no funds’ to permit the meeting of members.”

Talking of his other plans, Nihalani said, “There are plans to start a Tatkal section for certification of films on short notice. But the fees for them would be different. This proposal has also been made to the ministry and we are awaiting their opinion on it.” The new boss also wants to bring in an online application system for certification, in order to ensure “complete transparency.” All of these plans are subject to clearance from the I& B ministry.

PAST BRUSH WITH THE CENSORS
. The makers of Finding Fanny found themselves with an ‘A’ certificate due to the word ‘ virgin’ in the film. It was only after the producers agreed to beep the word that they got a ‘U/A’ certificate.

. The Censor Board initially objected to the use of “ Teri keh ke lunga” in Gangs of Wasseypur , but later allowed it with an ‘A’ certificate

. In Dirty Politics, abusive words uttered by Naseeruddin Shah and Ashutosh Rana were beeped

Here is the list of abuses and phrases which will not be allowed at all, or will land films with an ‘A’ certificate.

English
Objectionable for ‘U’ and ‘U/A’ certificates only: B****d, Son of a B***h, M********ing, F**k, F***er, F******, Mo*********r, F***ing c**t, c**k s**ker, f***ing d**k, sc**w, d**k, a****le

Objectionable for ‘U’ and ‘UA’ certificates and objectionable in ‘A’ certificate when used in derogatory terms for women: B***h or f***ing b***h

Hindi
Objectionable for ‘U’ and ‘U/A’ certificates only: H******ada/B****rd, h****mi, h****m ka pilla, h****m ka jana, b****a/ d***a, m******od, b*****od, b****di ke, g***u, c***ia

Objectionable for ‘U’, ‘U/A’ and ‘A’ certificates (when used in derogatory terms for women and especially when spoken by a male): K**ia, r**nd, r**di, b***h, r*****l, s**li

Will not be entertained:
Certain abusive terms (related to sex/when used in sexual terms): Maarna, lena, dena, bajana, phatna, etc

Violence against women

Glorifying bloodshed

 
Shah Rukh Khan on censorship
mid-day spoke to superstar Shah Rukh Khan on what he thought of censorship and the Censor Board. “There are certain guidelines that the Censor Board follows, but there cannot be any guidelines for creativity. I am personally against the idea of anti-smoking and anti-drinking disclaimers popping up on the screen. Another aspect is that a decision once made about a film must be respected because it is not made by one person, but a group of people. We are a country with diversity and it is impossible to judge how someone will react to a creative output. In such situations, a healthy discussion is better than not allowing someone else to see the film,” he said.

He argued that many controversial films have been made in the West, but never did one get banned or face protests. “I have never seen people coming out on streets to protest against any film. People there consider films as something merely make believe, while here we give too much importance to films, which is also why stars have a god- like status. I think that passion and madness for films evoke reactions which can be natural, but we think it is overreaction. So there are pros and cons to everything. I have faced issues when some of my films were to release and I have had to change the title. If something is wrong, you can report about it. However, setting a new board or replacing members won’t change the scenario as it will only result in a new set of rules and new problems,” he added.