Snubbed by I&B, Anand offers to quit CBFC post

Following a recent spat between the I&B Ministry and the Censor Board of Film Certification, Board chairman Vijay Anand, it is learnt, has o...

Following a recent spat between the I&B Ministry and the Censor Board of Film Certification, Board chairman Vijay Anand, it is learnt, has offered to step down.

In a letter to the Ministry early this week, Anand, upset at the manner in which recommendations to the Board’s core committee were scuttled even before they could be debated, has offered to resign.

The Ministry is yet to respond to Anand’s offer. While he’s upset over the manner in which the Ministry shot down the CBFC’s ideas, officials are upset at the manner in which Anand made his intentions to amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952 public. This even before it could be debated with the Ministry.

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In fact, officials said ever since Anand announced his decision to suggest changes in the Act, in particular the proposal to exhibit soft porn/porn films in designated theatres — the Ministry, has been inundated with memos from women’s groups demanding his resignation.

Following Anand’s public disclosures, questions have also been raised in Parliament, with the Ministry concluding that the time is not right for such debates. ‘‘It was bound to raise everyone’s hackles,’’ a source said.

Anand has maintained that the proposal to show pornography was one point raised by Kerala filmmakers, numerous other suggestions have come in the wake of an exercise undertaken to introduce changes in the 1952 Act.

‘‘I visited nine regional offices of the Board in the last four months seeking suggestions from filmmakers/producers to change the Act,’’ he said, adding the idea emanated from one such meeting in Kerala.

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