This experiment taught UK's Censor Board a lesson but won't work in India

When he was 13, Charlie Lyne stumbled upon trivia that was to change his outlook towards the censor board forever. He had read that the UK censor board, the British Board of Film Certification (BBFC), had clipped six seconds off David Fincher's Fight Club, because they felt that the sadism in the movie needed to be toned down.

Lyne recalled that he was under the impression that the Board's job was simply to rate movies, not issue cuts. The new knowledge left him seething. A decade later, that anger is what has culminated in Paint Drying.

In the UK, filmmakers have to pay a fee to the Board to watch a movie; the fee is directly proportional to the movie's length. The BBFC charges a submission fee of about £101, and £7 for every minute and a value-added tax. A normal-length movie fee is about £1,000. Once the fee is paid, it becomes mandatory for Board members to watch the movie.

In November 2015, Lyne, whose debut film Beyond Clueless premiered at the 2014 SXSW, launched a campaign, to make a movie of paint drying, and asked donors to help make it as lengthy as possible. By December 16, he had raised £5,937 from 686 backers. Lyne made a 10-hour movie, in which all one sees is paint drying. On January 20, he sent off the movie to BBFC's London office. By January 27, the Board awarded the movie a 'U' certificate, making it safe for viewing for all ages.

While some felt that the BBFC had snubbed Lyne with its stoic behaviour, several saw the act as a protest of epic proportions. The BBFC released a statement saying that censorship is done to ensure children don't come across harmful content. Lyne, who wrote a piece in Vice, said that he is not against the rating system, but against censorship and banning of films. "If we censor art on the basis that someone somewhere might be hurt by it, we'll be left with no art at all," he argued.
 

Aligarh director Hansal Mehta would perhaps agree. The Indian censor board, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), decided that not only his movie, but the trailers too merit an 'A' certification. Aligarh is about a gay professor's struggles and eventual death because of the attitudes of the conservative society around him. CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani said that gay relationships are not fit to be seen by children.

Mehta says that Lyne's protest will not work in India because what is required here is an overhaul. "The board has no guidelines or standarised regulations. It is individual intellect that guides decisions. Perhaps that is the reason the cuts are so nonsensical," says Mehta.

Filmmaker and film critic Raja Sen too feels the joke will be lost on Indian censors. "Where is the accountability? They will most probably get an intern to go through it," says Sen.

Mehta strongly feels that the creative community in India has sufficiently voiced its dissent. And the only way to ensure an overhaul is to drag the CBFC to court. "Only if we question the censor board through an infringement in court as a community, will there any hope," he says.