New Delhi: The Central Board of Film Certification ( CBFC) is making a few “big changes” in the way it deals with the certification of movies, besides seriously looking into issues related to corruption, and surrogate advertising of products in films.
One such change is online certification. “We are at the cusp of making a big change. Certification will go online very soon,” said Vani Tripathi Tikko, a board member based in Delhi.
Tikko, who is also a BJP party member, said the aim is to break down the complexity of the certification process. “Why should it be so tumultuous and difficult for a producer,” she said. Over the years, the complexities have also resulted in corruption. “The board has become a body mired in controversies. There are agents who play all kinds of nefarious roles. If the process is made online, then such issues can be addressed,” she added.
Another area, where the board members are currently engaged in an internal dialogue is surrogate advertising and brand promotion.
“The business of surrogate advertising in films has become very big and there’s no point of pushing policies if things like alcohol and tobacco consumption, or things which are not good, are pushed into the minds of viewers,” she said.
The board is looking to penetrate deeper to see that how much surrogate advertising is actually damaging, even the creative content. “It is an internal policy matter and the board will soon take it up,” Tikko said. On the issue of censorship of creative content, she said the board’s position was clear that it did not intend to be a part of the creative process.
The board has no business to give an opinion on the creative content of the film, or to judge how good or bad a film is, but definitely the kind of impact it has on the society and the age group of audience it influences.
“I also have a problem with the word adult and the way forward will be to refer to the word mature, ” she said. India follows certification system the Adult/UA and U certificates. There is also special category, for example, for medical films.
As far as the content is concerned, it has to be contextual. “The language, screen play, storyline and portrayal of character have to be contextual. Selectively slicing should not be encouraged,” she said. Besides all this, the CBFC’s will get aggressive in pushing regional films, enhance the scope of interaction between the industry and the board and promote establishment of film development corporations, in every state.
