Filmmakers Are Very Unhappy With Prasoon Joshi And The CBFC...Here's Why

When the former chief of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Pahlaj Nihalani was sacked and lyricist Prasoon Joshi was brought in to replace him last month, most filmmakers cherished the ‘progressive’ move. However, reports suggest that producers may face troubles even with the new CBFC chief. Joshi has reportedly sent a brief to his officials asking them to refrain from sharing any informal information to filmmakers.

A DNA report claimed on Tuesday that Joshi has introduced new rules for the board, according to which, no information about suggested cuts will be shared with the filmmakers and that the certificate will be the only communication with them.

Earlier, informal communication used to help filmmakers negotiate before they received the certificate.

“Earlier, we were at least told about the problematic scenes, if any, so we could take care of them. Now, we will be in the dark till the certificate is issued. This way, precious time will be lost. Sometimes we have just two-three days between CBFC viewing a film and its release. This new policy may cause delays,” DNA quoted a film producer as saying.

The report further said the decision was taken after there was some confusion over the cuts in the recently-released Hollywood horror film, IT. The CBFC initially ordered 12 cuts, then restored all of them, then asked for three cuts again, and finally settled for just one cut, it added.

Talking about censorship, CBFC’s role and his new job, Prasoon earlier said in an interview, “Any legitimate industry works within certain frameworks and so does a creative industry like films. Let’s not discredit the CBFC. The body and its officials work hard to fulfill their part of the work. The scope to do better is there in all spheres of all industries. As far as I can see, my role is not to micromanage but that of guiding sensibilities — to be more of a sensor according to changing times as well as not lose moorings in the velocity of change. Striking a fine balance is always a challenge worth attempting.”