Censor board should have filmmakers: Kaushik Ganguly

“No one will support the stand of censor board and we will keep discussing this issue for next 20 years. Sometimes, it is insulting for sensible filmmakers when they suggest a cut. It questions your creativity, integrity and passion for cinema. We want a board of directors who we can trust,” the director told reporters here.

CBFC and its chairperson, former producer Pahlaj Nihalani, have been at the centre of negative attention lately owing to arbitrary cuts suggested by the body in movies.

Hinting at Nihalani, Ganguly said, “We want a proper filmography of the board of directors, they should have volume of sensible work. When somebody is giving you cuts and you see his old films, you know why I am saying this.

“I don’t mind Mr Shyam Benegal suggesting a cut or Govind Nihalani doing that. There are directors who are creating disturbing images and should be regulated and there has to be a proper body to do that but it can’t be random.”

Ganguly interacted with the media on the sidelines of the first edition of BRICS Film Festival.

His film “Cinemawala” is being screened at the festival.

The filmmaker was joined by “Cinemawala” actor Parambrata Chatterjee and young director Ram Reddy, whose critically-acclaimed feature debut “Thithi” is being shown at the fest.

When asked whether censorship should be done away with, Reddy said, “I agree with the stand that it should be a certification body rather than an editor because editors are artists and professionals and they sit with the directors and take decisions based on artistic impulse.

“‘Thithi’ has been edited like a song because both my editors and I are percussionists so we tried editing it that way… So, now if censor board takes a few shots out of my song, it won’t be music anymore. So, as an artist I am very concerned about the freedom of though and expression.”