In the Indian Feature Film scene, no one (besides perhaps K A Abbas) has had as long and arduous a run in with Censorship in the country, than Anurag Kashyap.
Here, while seeking more autonomy for the CBFC, he says that he is unable to reach his full potential as a filmmaker because of censorship. "Indians consider me a dark filmmaker, but when I chat with global filmmakers they ask me why I am so mild and why I restrain myself. How do I explain them why I can't do what I really want to do," he said, citing the example of a bold Indian film called 'Gandu' which is garnering rave reviews globally but is unlikely to see a release in India because of its sexuality.
This video was recorded from a day long interactive session on Cinema and certification titled 'Samvaad CBFC 2011' organized by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at J W Mariott in Mumbai on the 14th of June 2011.
The day long session called by the new Chairperson of CBFC, Ms. Leela Samson, that was attended by the biggest, most established as well as a new band of filmmakers in Bollwoood, the world's largest film industry, became a day for the industry - producers and directors - alike to vent their frustration against and outdated film censorship regime in India. Bollywood not only came in full force to attend the event, but spoke in one voice against censorship and the need to overhaul it to reflect the changing morality of the nation, as well as new technology.
Documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan who has some of the most famous court battles against censorship of his films remarked, "Of my 35 years of filmmaking, I have spent 20 years in court fighting censorship," much to the laughter of the audience.
Earlier the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr. Prithviraj Chavan, inaugurated a new e-governance portal that would allow filmmakers to submit their applications online, instead of relying on agents to do so. This is one of the measures that the CBFC is taking to bring in more transparency in their operation.
Ms. Leela Samson in an evocative speech that had the entire industry openly praising her vision, promised not just to bring in more transparency in the film certification process, but also stated the soon there will be a film classification system, rather than the current certification one.
Anurag Kashyap, while seeking more autonomy for the CBFC, said that he is unable to reach his full potential as a filmmaker because of censorship. "Indians consider me a dark filmmaker, but when I chat with global filmmakers they ask me why I am so mild and why I restrain myself. How do I explain them why I can't do what I really want to do," he said, citing the example of a bold Indian film called 'Gandu' which is garnering rave reviews globally but is unlikely to see a release in India because of its sexuality.
Mahesh Bhatt, despite outlining his four decade long struggle with censorship in the country, asked for restraint, "To be fair to the censor board, it has changed a lot over the time since I first started making films."
Many producers and directors took the opportunity to present their angst freely at the way the labour of their love and money have been ruthlessly handled by the outdated censorship laws in the country, while urging more dialogue between the government, the CBFC and filmmakers who ultimately bear the financial brunt of censorship.
Ms. Pankaja Thakur, CEO, CBFC, in her concluding remark, highlighted the difficulty of their job in a nation of such diversity and reiterated that they had deliberately called the people who had the most problems with the censor board because they wanted to hear them and frame a more evolved method of film classification, instead of the current censorship one.
In the end the event, attended by film industry stalwarts like Yash Chopra, Shyam Benegal, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Amit Khanna, Shabana Azmi among a host of other luminaries, ended up becoming a show of strength by an otherwise internally squabbling Bollywood who raised their points fearlessly. How much of the discussion in the day translates to any positive change for film censorship in India, only time would tell.
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Prakash Jha, Prasoon Joshi, Anurag Kashyap & Qaushiq Mukherjee at THiNK Fest 2011, Goaby EssarHome982 views
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