Bollywood recents Cops on censor panel

November 20: Even Asha Parekh, Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification denied any such proposal officially communicated to CB...

November 20: Even Asha Parekh, Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification denied any such proposal officially communicated to CBFC but admitted that she had met Mendonca in connection with curbing of interpolation as was detected in recent film Gunda. No such proposal was discussed with him, she pointed out.

Former censor chief Shakti Samanta who is also president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association, said that such proposal had never come during his tenure as censor chief. " Film industry will not approve of such proposal. It is premature to say unless we know what the proposal is but in the past whenever there was a need for policemen to see the film we have shown. If any proposal is there then it has to be considered by the Government after consulting the film makers and not by censors," he pointed out.

Strongly reacting to the Express Newline story, Santosh Singh Jain, president of the Film Federation of India said "We will not tolerate the presence of policemen in thecensor trial and arm-twisting tactices that may lead to nothing but corruption," he pointed out. Just because one or two films dealing with Bomb blast cases presented on the screen were referred to the police by censors it doesn’t mean that every film should be seen by cops. Almost every film has some sort of violence. If police have to okay the film then there is no need for Government to appoint so many members on the censor panel because they will be redundant. If today Mendonca is asking for such privilage then every state and every police commissioner in the country will ask for similar power. The police have already certain powers under the Indian Penal Code to stop the film if any film creates law and order sitution. Besides there is no provision in the Cinematograph Act even for censor chief to refer the film to any other authority. It can either pass a film under scrutiny or reject it but if industry had not objected to censors referring the film it is because of avoiding hassles." he pointedout.

K.D.Shorey, general secretary of the FFI went one step further by dubbing the proposal of the Police Commissioner as an act of stopping the violence on the screen as he has not been able to stop violence and gang war in real life. "Cops want to assume powers what are not allowed under the law. There is no provision under the Cinematograph Act under which policemen can see films along with the panel members.

If they do it under pressure we will go to the court. Instead of curbing video piracy and attending to law and order situation in the city which is even threatening the film personalities, policemen are poking their nose in censoring films which will be vehimently opposed by us. It is no use blaming films for criminals being inspired by films but the real fact is that film makers are inspired by the modus operandi of the criminals to make films like Bandit Queen. What the films are showing the characters from the real life. How are the police entitled to see the film before censoring it?"Mr.Shorey asked.