An RTI filed with the Censor Board has revealed that the number of cuts in Indian films has been going down considerably in recent years. The RTI information further indicates that the examining committee is going soft while clearing films. In 2008, per 100 films made in Hindi, 152 cuts were suggested, while this number went down drastically last year and for per 100 Hindi films, only 21 cuts were suggested.
RTI activist Vihar Durve alleged that Censor Board officials were hand-in-glove with film producers and were passing films with vulgar content.
“This is a clear-cut case of being liberal to filmmakers and allowing sex and violence in films in the guise of entertainment,” said Brijmohan Sharma, former member of the Censor Board for Film Certification (CBFC). He further added, “Until and unless major amendments are not made in The Cinematograph Act, nothing is going to improve and Censor Board officials will continue obliging filmmakers.”
However, apart from Hindi films, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films top the list in adult ratings as most of the cuts have been made in adult films. Marathi and Gujarati films were ranked as the cleanest films as they face the least number of cuts.
J.P. Singh, an officer in Enforcement Directorate, who earlier worked on the Censor Board as a regional officer has launched an attack on the functioning of the Censor Board on Facebook.
Commenting on the recently released Shootout At Wadala, Mr Singh posted: “The time has come wherein strict action like arrest is required to be taken against officers who pass vulgarity in films.”
He was referring to a dialogue “maal sundar ho toh main rape bhi kar sakta hoon”.
Despite repeated attempts, Pankaja Thakur, CEO of CBFC could not be reached.