Prasoon Joshi, now in his third term as the chairperson of the CBFC, spoke at IFFI about the role he never imagined himself in — regulation. He shared that he never thought he’d end up in a position where he’d have to tell people to change their work. During the conversation, he discussed his role as CBFC chairperson, his approach to writing, and why he believes creative people can’t operate like machines.

Prasoon said, “I’m a creative person. I never thought that I would get into something like regulation or a role where I have to tell people (to curb creative work). If I put myself in the shoes of creative people kisi ko pasand nahi hoga ki aap kahein ki badlaav kijiye. It’s a vantage point. Life is a vantage point.”

Explaining his point, Prasoon said, “If you’ll try to look at things from someone else’s point of view, then you’ll understand things. Let’s say there is a flowing river. Now, the one who is swimming against the tide of this river – you ask that person, how is this river? He might say that the river is aggressive. Nadi aakramak hai. But you ask someone who is standing at the riverbank, how is this river? That person will say, ‘This river is very quiet, beautiful. I have been meditating looking at this river.’ The same reality is seen differently from different vantage points. The river hasn’t changed.”

He added, “Hence, I felt that when I accepted my position in the film certification board, maine kaha vivaad nahi, samvaad. Aap baat cheet kariye aur aapko point of view samajh aa jayega. And there will be a way out. We are all human beings; we are creating something.”

Talking about the process of writing a song, Prasoon said that it doesn’t matter what he approaches – whether it’s a short film, a long poem, a song, or a script – it needs to have a vision. He said, “First of all, you need to have a very clear vision, a very clear belief. Your faith and belief in what you are trying to say are important.”

Recalling how he drew from his childhood memories to write the song Maa from Taare Zameen Par, he said, “I couldn’t write the song for days. The script format mentioned ‘separation song.’ There could be various ways of writing a separation song. I was challenged by it. How do I make it unique? The tone in it, the touch. As film writers and creators, we have a platform to share something very personal. If you don’t have that tone in it, the touch of yours, then you are a machine. You can’t be a machine. I kept struggling with it and I went back to my childhood when my parents were teachers. My mother had to go for a teacher’s training programme, and I was a young boy in Uttarakhand. You act brave, like ‘You are going? Fine. We’re fine without you. There’s no problem.’ But deep down, I didn’t know how to live without my mom. I just went back to that feeling – the feeling I had at that moment. That’s exactly what I wrote: ‘Main kabhi batlata nahin, par and here se darta hoon main, maa.”

In response to a question about how aspiring filmmakers can learn from established ones at IFFI, he said, “We need to reduce and remove the mysticism around filmmaking. People often say: himmatwala makes films, talent wala nahin. Filmmaking is a process that should be transparent and accessible. Those intrigued by the idea of making films should be able to do so the process needs to be simplified. Filmmaking has to be made more accessible so storytelling doesn’t feel intimidating. The fear that your ideas might not resonate with people, that’s what we need to work on. The process must be demystified.”