With Unlock 4.0 having no guidelines on cinema halls reopening, exhibitors and producers were in for a shock. However, I&B Ministry Secretary says SOPs are ready
Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; September 2, 2020)

When the Unlock 4.0 guidelines were announced for September, cinema halls were in for a rude shock. They had expected they would be allowed to reopen in this phase of the unlocking. Soon after, the Multiplex Association of India issued a statement saying cinemas, too, deserve a chance to save their business, and film producers have also tweeted in support of reopening of cinemas.

On Tuesday, during the CII Summit FX, Siddharth Roy Kapur, President of the Producers Guild of India, raised the issue and said there’s a lot of anxiety in the industry. Speaking to Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Kapur said, “The new guidelines (that cinemas are not allowed to reopen) are without any answers. People in the cinema industry are eagerly waiting to go back to work. It’s difficult to wrap our mind around the fact that airlines were allowed to restart a few months ago, gyms are being allowed to reopen, and bars, too, will be permitted to reopen in a few weeks – but the cinema business has not been given the same consideration. It doesn’t even seem to be under discussion. There’s a lot of worry and anxiety both on the exhibition side and on the production side. It’s a large sector and employs lakhs of people.”

Responding to Kapur, Khare said, “Unfortunately, exhibitors went overboard and made their own announcements (of when they expect to reopen), and I think that actually harmed their cause. But I’ll definitely take this up and it is a priority for us. For film shoots, we’ve already issued SOPs, and for cinemas, too, SOPs are ready. We’ll talk to the Home Ministry and settle it soon. Cinemas and malls go together, and most malls are complaining they’re not getting footfall because cinemas are closed.” 

CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi with Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, and Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; September 2, 2019)

On an evening when Mumbai’s sky was overcast with rain clouds, members of the city’s film fraternity gathered at a suburban five-star hotel to witness the inauguration of a new logo and certificate designed for the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC). The evening, hosted by lyricist Prasoon Joshi, the chief of the CBFC, turned out to be a fraternity-studded affair. Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Amit Khare (right), the secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, were the key guests for the evening.

Members of the board like Vidya Balan, Vani Tripathi Tikoo and Waman Kendre were seen exchanging pleasantries with cinema industry representatives from all over the country. Among the dignitaries present were filmmakers like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Ekta Kapoor, Rahul Rawail, Subhash Ghai, Ramesh Sippy, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ram Madhvani, Prahlad Kakkar, Ramesh Taurani, Anubhav Sinha, Amit Sharma, Tanuj Garg, Ajit Andhare, Boney Kapoor, Sajid Nadiadwala, Mahaveer Jain, Sudhir Mishra, Kunal Kohli, Kiran Shantaram, Madhur Bhandarkar, Ashoke Pandit, Atul Kasbekar and actress Kangana Ranaut. The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of the new logo and a brand new design for the certificate that will now be issued to films and videos that are certified by the body. The certificate’s logo and design has been conceptualised by Prasoon Joshi, while the art design is by Rohit Devgun.

While speaking on the occasion, Prasoon took the guests through the board’s achievements in his two-year-tenure, what the industry can look forward with respect to the board and also the way the industry’s interaction with the board has changed from vivaad to vichar-vimarsh. CBFC’s Regional Officer Tushar Karmakar also presented interesting statistics to the guests which underlined the speedy procedures being followed by the board and the spike in the number of films being certified year on year.

Prakash Javadekar also spoke on the occasion about what the industry can look forward to in terms of changes in the Cinematograph Act (1952), new and more stringent laws to prevent piracy, the introduction of a business summit for the movie industry on the lines of a business summit held in Davos annually, the 50th year of the International Film Festival (IFFI) of India poised for a grand celebration in Goa based on the theme of Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat, and what the ministry plans to do for the film fraternity in the near future. The minister also fielded questions from the representatives of various bodies of cinema operating in different parts of the country, including the industries down South. After a healthy discussion, the evening ended with a short closing note by Prasoon and the star guests of the evening interacting with the minister and the ministry’s secretary.


SCAN CODE, GET INFO!

The CBFC’s new certificate has been designed keeping digitisation in mind. The new contemporary design bears a QR code on the right-handside corner along with the rating given to the film. The certificate has been made in an interactive style. The film’s synopsis and trailer can be watched by merely scanning the QR code. All the information about the film, including the cast and crew, can also be accessed by scanning the code.


Kangana Ranaut and Vidya Balan


(L-R) Rahul Rawail, Sudhir Mishra and Vani Tripathi Tikoo