Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 26, 2014)

Pravin Mohare, the agent whose recorded evidence got Censor Board CEO Rakesh Kumar arrested, says he is not welcome at the CBFC office anymore. "Some agents don't talk to me and producers whose movies I was handling, have taken away their projects from me," says the 32-year old.

However, he perks up when he mentions his wife, Renuka. "I hadn't kept her in the loop about the CBI connection, but she knew I was disturbed earlier this month. Now she's proud of me," he beams.

Pravin learnt of Rakesh Kumar's 'intentions' when he went to get a Marathi film trailer censored. "I told him I wanted it passed in three days. He rudely told me that it wasn't possible. I stepped out of his cabin and an agent who was close to him and was waiting outside, told me that money would do the trick. I told him I had Rs 9,000 on me. He sent a text and in five minutes told me that the job would be done," recalls Pravin, who paid up the agent and left. "Guess what? I got my certificate in three days."

Mor Dauki Ke Bihav, produced by Chhattisgarh-based Kshamanidhi Mishra, was Pravin's next assignment. And this time, he decided to record the proceedings. He met with the CEO who asked him if he'd completed the paperwork. "I called the Scheduling Officer the next day but was told that my film was not lined up for screening," he says.

Pravin then sent a text to Kumar informing him that he was ready to pay. "He did not respond. The movie was slated for release on August 15 and I had only three days to get a certificate. Since time was short, I decided to meet Kumar again and told him I was carrying Rs 30,000. He told me 'Paisa apne jeb me rakh and stop flying. Your job cannot be done.' I apologised and left the office," recalls Pravin.

Once outside, an agent close to the CEO told him that he couldn't expect to get a film censored for Rs 30,000. He'd have to shell out at least Rs 50,000. "I took a cab to Churchgate. En route I got a call from Shripati Mishra (the agent who was arrested). He told me that it would cost me Rs 70,000. I changed track, and headed straight for the Colaba office of the CBI with audio recordings of my interactions with Rakesh Kumar, along with all the taped phone calls," he reveals.

When Pravin informed the film's producer, he was abused. "Yeh tune kya kiya? My film will now never see the light of day," Mishra wailed. Pravin admits that the film was delayed but it has now been cleared. "He should be proud of me."

Pravin insists that age is on his side and is confident that destiny will not ditch him. "I have done nothing wrong. Shouldn't we stand up for what is right and make efforts to cleanse the system?" he concludes.

Abhijit Sathe (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 18, 2014)

The CEO of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), who has been booked in a bribery case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), had delayed certifying two Hindi films - Kick and Singham Returns - which led to their producers making several visits to the CBFC office in Mumbai to get censor certificates before their release dates, according to the CBI probe.

Kick was released in late July and Singham Returns on August 15. CBI sources said that Singham Returns director Rohit Shetty even visited CBFC CEO Rakesh Kumar's residence in Colaba to request him to clear his film as soon as possible. The movie was cleared after this visit. Similarly, Kick producer Sajid Nadiadwala also called on Kumar at the latter's office just before his film's release after Kumar expressed reservations about some scenes in the movie.

Kumar was booked on August 14 after a censor certification agent and a CBFC advisory panel member for allegedly seeking a Rs 70,000 bribe on his behalf to clear a film from Chhattisgarh, 'Mor Dauki ke Bihav', which was slated for an August 15 release.

CBI sources said that although Kick and Singham Returns are not part of their current case, they will investigate these developments to ascertain Kumar's conduct with regard to film producers and TV production houses.

As of now, the CBI is interrogating CBFC panel member Sarvesh Jaiswal and agent Shripati Mishra, who were arrested. Mishra allegedly demanded money from the Chhattisgarh film producer and said the money was to be paid to Kumar. The information on 'Kick' and 'Singham Returns' came from the interrogations of Jaiswal and Mishra, sources said.

Jaiswal, a Congress worker from north Mumbai, was recommended for the CBFC panel member's post by a former Congress MP. Although Jaiswal's bio-data says he is a graduate, he reportedly told the CBI that he was an SSC dropout.

Sources said that the long weekend, which included public holidays, had delayed searches of Kumar's bank lockers and the assessment of transactions involving close to half-a-dozen bank accounts belonging to him. The lockers will be opened on Tuesday, following which a decision will be taken on whether he should be arrested, sources said.

Shetty and Nadiadwala cound not be reached for comment. 'Singham Returns' and 'Kick' are doing well at the box office, with the former collecting Rs 50-crore-plus in India in its first two days and the latter collecting Rs 373 crore worldwide to date.

Meanwhile, the CBI has recorded the statements of at least four agents who, in CBFC circles, are known to have frequent contact with Kumar.

The CBI registered an FIR against Kumar, Mishra and Jaiswal based on a complaint given by a Chhatisgarh film producer. Members of the film fraternity had earlier expressed shock at the case. "It's an exceptional case and, I'm guessing, unprecedented," said filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

CBFC chairperson Leela Samson, who said she had received complaints about Kumar's conduct, said, "There were no complaints of bribery, but issues over delays. When I confronted him, he would listen to me, but the complaints didn't stop." The CBI in its searches at Kumar's house in Badhwar Park recovered Rs 10.3 lakh in cash. Sources said Kumar may be questioned soon. 
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Work at CBFC comes to a standstill

Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; August 18, 2014)

The certification work at the CBFC has come to a standstill after an agent and a panel member were arrested by the CBI and a house search of CEO Rakesh Kumar was conducted recently. A member from the board says, “There are only 28 panel members in Mumbai and we have a backlog of 40 feature films and 64 video films. There is no clarity when will the boards working will go back to normalcy.’’

The Mumbai region has apparently been flooded with films from Tamil Nadu and Kolkata as well. The source adds, “We also have films awaiting recertification for television. Each screening requires at least four panel members and one officer. On an average about three to four screenings will have to take place everyday, which is not possible given our present strength.’’

It may be pointed out that many films like Finding Fanny, Daawat- E- Ishq, Desi Kattey, Raja Natwarlal, Mary Kom and Creature are slated to release within the next month. As per the regulation, films’ have to be certified at least 21 days before the release. It remains to be seen if the current situation will affect these films’ release.

Filmmakers demand that a qualified person from the industry replace Rakesh Kumar
Vickey Lalwani & Abhijit Sathe (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 16, 2014)

The film industry on Friday reacted with anger to the news of the CBI booking the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) CEO Rakesh Kumar for accepting a bribe to certify a film, with top filmmakers wanting to know why was a railway official was put in charge of certifying films.

Kumar, who was last posted in Vadodara with the railways before being plucked out to head censor board, was booked on Thursday after the CBI arrested censor agent Shripati Mishra accepting a bribe of Rs 70,000 allegedly on behalf of Kumar. CBFC member Sarvesh Jaiswal, who collected the money from Mishra, was also arrested.

The CBI in its searches at Kumar's house in Badhwar Park has recovered Rs 10.30 lakh cash. While he has not been arrested yet, sources said he would be questioned in a day or two.

Most in the film industry said they had seen this coming as complaints of Kumar holding up censor certificates mounted. The same was confirmed on Friday by CBFC chairperson Leela Samson, who said she had received complaints about Kumar's conduct. "There were no complaints of bribery, but there were issues over delays. When I confronted him, he would listen to me, but the complaints didn't stop," she said.

A former member of the Board, who did not wish to be identified, said while censor agents have been around for some time now, they seemed to have grown in numbers as well as influence recently. "I wish producers would send someone from their office directly instead of hiring these touts. Many of them are autorickshaw drivers, whose job is to coordinate with the CBFC. Today, some of these touts move around in fancy cars," he said.

Producer Kumar Taurani said he does not understand the logic of placing an ex-railways staffer in charge of certifying films. "Why should an ex-railways staffer decide the fate of our films? What sensibility is he going to bring to the process," he asked.

Director Zoya Akhtar said someone from the film industry, preferably someone in his/her 40s, should step into Kumar's shoes. "It's a tough job, with long working hours. Somebody who has worked in the industry would be more comfortable," she said.

While there was a long tradition of film personalities heading the certification process, the last CBFC CEO Pankaja Thakur, who worked in customs before joining the Board, was the first exception. While she did try to bring in some amount of transparency to the process of film certification and improved CBFC-Bollywood interface, she was not given an extension at the end of her tenure.

When Kumar took over from Thakur in January this year, he, in an extensive interview to Mumbai Mirror (Jan 16), had vowed to cleanse the industry of vulgar and violent content. Instead, he now finds himself caught in a scandal.

While writer-director Reema Kagti, who has always had issues with the CBFC when it comes to depicting smoking and consensual sex, demanded that Kumar be punished if found guilty, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt said that if the charges against Kumar are proved it would be 'shameful,' Ashoke Pandit, social activist and producer, said Kumar was known to delay censor certificates. "If an NGO raised any objection, he would ask the filmmaker to get an NOC from it and only then would he certify the film. Are we going to be governed by private organisations or the rulebook," he asked.

CBI sources said the Chhattisgarhi producer, who tipped them about Kumar's demand for Rs 70,000 to clear his film, was targeting an August 15 release. The producer completed all formalities on August 10, but received a communication from CBFC on August 12 that his request for expedited process was rejected and that it would take a fortnight to get the film certified.

The producer was, however, told that if he approached CBFC authorities through Shripati Mishra, his film may get certified under provisions for emergency certification.

Industry veterans, however, say that Kumar is a symptom and not the disease. "The entire system is full of loopholes," said director-producer Shyam Benegal. Lyricist Sameer agreed with Benegal. "Corruption is so rampant in our country that finding a solution may be difficult."

Script writer Salim Khan said that even if Kumar is replaced, what's the guarantee that the new CEO will be clean. "Even if Rakesh Kumar goes, the new man who takes over too will be from earth, not heaven!"

Meanwhile, CBI sources said the valuation of jewellery seized from Kumar's house and verification of his properties will begin next week.

Abhijit Sathe & Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 15, 2014)

The Colaba home of CEO of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Rakesh Kumar, was searched by the CBI on Thursday night after a censor certification agent and a CBFC advisory panel member for Mumbai were arrested for allegedly taking a Rs 70,000 bribe on his behalf.

The CBI, which has booked Kumar, was still questioning him at the time of going to press.

The bribe was allegedly to clear a regional language film from Chhattisgarh, Mor Dauki ke Bihav, which is scheduled for an August 15 release. The CBI has registered an FIR based on a complaint given by Praveen Mohare, an authorized censor certification agent. Apart from Kumar's residence, the Mumbai homes of Shripati Mishra, the agent, and Sarvesh Jaiswal, the panel member, were also searched.

The CBI laid a trap to arrest Mishra and Jaiswal, who will be produced in court today.

Members of the film fraternity expressed shock at the alleged bribery. "It's an exceptional case and I'm guessing, unprecedented. If this is true, it just goes on to say that it's not an isolated case," said filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

In the past, filmmaker Hansal Mehta had filed an RTI saying that the Censor Board was discriminating against his film Shahid by allotting it an Adult certificate, while some films got a more lenient treatment.

Added Bhatt, "It was called paranoia of a particular filmmaker, but this case of bribery, if proven, just indicates that there could be a dimension of truth in those allegations."

He added, "Somebody at the very helm of affairs being caught in such a scenario is unbelievable. They need to investigate and if proven, a person of impeccable integrity needs to be brought in as one has never heard such a case where the lure of money has tempted somebody from the Censor Board."

After the appointment of Rakesh Kumar, a former official of the Indian Railways, as the CEO of the Censor Board, he gave an interview to Mirror (January 16, 2014). He had said, "I seriously don't think Ranbir Kapoor should have shown his middle finger and bared his butt in Besharam. I also felt that given his reputation, Aamir Khan shouldn't have produced a cuss-loaded film like Delhi Belly."

The industry expressed outrage over his comments with some calling him a "regressive leader at the top".

The Indian Film Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) said that Kumar's comments appeared to be a "creative policing" exercise. It said that the Censor Board's job was to only review finished products of cinema and not to interfere with the creative process.