This man wants the idiot back in the idiot box

When contacted by The Indian Express tonight, Prasad confirmed he had sent the letter. ‘‘We have directed the channels to show films, trailers and music videos that have been certified ‘U’ by the Censor Board.’’

Prasad said he expects channels to abide by the letter. ‘‘We will work within the ambit of the Cable Act which requires the cable operator to abide by the rules,’’ he said.

When told that his directive would effectively mean blacking out most movies shown on TV—including Academy Award winning films for a mature audience—Prasad argued: ‘‘All the butt-squeezing videos made in our country will have to stop and no music videos or promos or films will be shown without U certification.’’

As for movie channels beamed from outside, like Star Movies, HBO or Zee MGM, Prasad said the cable operator will be held responsible for what is shown. ‘‘I am sure once the letter reaches the channels, they will abide by the rules,’’ he said. For newly appointed Censor Board chairman Anupam Kher, implementing the directive isn’t a problem. ‘‘Jab kaam liya hai to karna hi hai (When we have taken up the job, we have to do it). If you want to watch adult stuff, get it on video or DVD,’’ he said. Incidentally, ‘‘cleaning up’’ of the airwaves became an issue related to remix videos following objections to the Kaanta Laga album by women’s groups. Since then, all remix music videos need mandatory Censor Board clearance. I&B Ministry sources said the Central Monitoring Service, whose job is to track news on foreign TV channels, will be asked to scan movie channels, fashion channels and music channels. ‘‘We always have the option of blocking out channels if they (the cable operators) do not abide by our rules,’’ officials said.

Senior Vice President (Corporate Communications) at Star Yash Khanna said the channel has a Standard and Practices Division which vets movies and edits inapproriate programming even before they are shown. ‘‘We do specify whether a film is fit for General Viewing or whether it requires Parental Guidance,’’ said Khanna.

Others like Jawahar Goel of Zee, whose movie channel ZEE MGM has been under the ministry’s scrutiny for showing movies like The Last Tango in Paris, said the channel will follow all rules if the Government spells them out.

Unlike the West, which has a complex rating system of movies based on age—general audiences, parental guidance, parental guidance for children upto 13, restricted to under 17 and NC 17 where no child below 17 is admitted, India classifies movies under categories U (under 18) and A (18 and above.)

Even Prasad’s predecessor Sushma Swaraj had only summoned FTV officials asking them to abide by the ‘‘cultural sensibilities’’ of the country. After the meeting, FTV split its programming, diverting all its adult shows to a pay, encrypted channel while running general shows on regular FTV.