Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Pahlaj Nihalani sacked, replaced by Prasoon Joshi' that was published in Newsband

Pahlaj Nihalani sacked, replaced by Prasoon Joshi

Government has finally sacked Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani. Many a filmmaker found CBFC under him unenlightened, tyrannical and scissor-happy.

Newly appointed chairperson is Prasoon Joshi. He is an adman, lyricist and poet. He is thoughtful, having a modern point of view and a good understanding of the medium.

Shyam Benegal submitted his report on the necessary reforms and recommended that CBFC should only be a film certification body and no longer be a censor board.

There are many film makers who question whether CBFC is required at all. According to them, in this age, in a democracy, there is no room for a "censor" board. It's an anachronism that has flourished to suppress any critical view of the Government and other vested interests, according to them. They further add, “Which other democracy has censorship? India has gone to the extreme, to the extent of even cutting words like BS that are in common use from TV shows. You cannot show even a cartoon character smoking without the annoying message about how smoking kills. The reason why Indian movies follow the same old masala formula is because the directors have no freedom to take up interesting and controversial subjects. Abolish the censor board, make states accountable for law and order to protect free expression, have only a ratings system for movies just as in other mature democracies, and hold theaters responsible for enforcing age restrictions for audience. We can't all be watching movies and TV shows only suitable for children.”

But what these anti CBFC elements do not understand is there are unfortunately many film makers who are a greedy lot and hence if censorship is abolished, they will start offering plain pornography to people.

However, Prasoon Joshi - like Shyam Benegal or Shabana Azmi – is the name that itself inspires confidence. He is the best man for the job.