It is time to talk about film censorship in India

The rules that are followed by the censorship committee are those which have been presented to us by the government. Nothing has changed, and it is certainly not arbitrary. It is a myth that the film Befikre went without any cuts. Our job is to suggest edits to the producers and they can make the changes and send the film back for reconsideration. 82 per cent of the films (Bollywood or otherwise) have been passed without any cuts, so we are very fair. Also I don’t make the decision alone. The film is put up for review to a committee where every member gets a say. Only unanimous decisions based on conscience are passed. Otherwise they film is sent to a review committee. Our job is not to look into the implications of Freedom of Expression — only to review objectionable content.

—Pahlaj Nihalani. Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) India

I think that the laws of censorship prevalent in this country are archaic, and this has nothing to do with my film on Sunny Leone. I believe that any autonomous body which imposes censorship is assuming that Indians are naive and not capable of comprehending certain things. Will certain mandates make us better as a people? Will it make the society less misogynist? No, that is a function of upbringing as opposed to watching films. The media is very trend aware with covering the Supreme Court decisions which have limited set freedom of expression back by half a century. When the censorship board expressed their views on the matter, it reminded me strongly of the advent of Trump. The rules are so arbitrary, it seems as if rather than the mental state of Indians, the rules reflect party ideology. But that is just my opinion.

—Dilip Mehta, filmmaker

While she should be some rules in order for content which is highly politically motivated and created only to instigate reactions from the public, adult themes should not have to be censored. The decision should be left with the people about whether they want to be part of the viewership experience or not. With great freedom comes great responsibility and this should be vested upon the Indian people. Rather than chopping out scenes completely, I think a system which has ratings for mature viewers is more desirable. If one does not want to watch a film, can choose not to. We must agree to disagree to begin with.

—Aruna Raje, filmmaker