Benegal panel on Censor Board revamp meets Jaitley
Mumbai: The Shyam Benegal committee, formed by the Centre to look into the revamp of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), on Saturday met Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley here and discussed the possible changes in guidelines for clearing movies.
"The crux of the meeting with the Minister today was how the committee would function and work on what the guidelines and policies should be like of the Censor Board while clearing a movie. There might be amendments and changes in the (existing) guidelines," Benegal told PTI.
Apart from Jaitley, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was also present.
Benegal said that the committee also discussed the scope of Censor Board. "The committee will submit its report in two months to the government. There is a need to move towards a new system of grading films in terms of age, maturity, sensibility and sensitivity instead of censorship. There might be amendments and changes in the (existing) guidelines," he said.
The panel includes filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, adman Piyush Pandey and film critic Bhawana Somaaya. National Film Development Council MD Nina Lath Gupta and Joint Secretary (Films) Sanjay Murthy are also part of the panel.
Soon after the meeting Jaitley said, "The Film certification guidelines need contemporary interpretation and should be as non discretionary as possible. In most countries there is a mechanism for certifying films and documentaries, but it has to be ensured that in doing so, artistic creativity and freedom does not get curtailed."
He said film certification guidelines need contemporary interpretation and they should be made as non discretionary as possible.
The Benegal panel was constituted on January 1 to recommend broad guidelines for certification of films by the CBFC - which has been mired in controversies in the recent past.
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