Asserting that the government in power has no role in film certification, veteran director Shyam Benegal on Friday said filmmakers concerns over the Centre’s proposal to amend the Cinematograph Act are “natural”. On June 18, the Centre had sought public comments on the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021 which proposes to penalise film piracy with a jail term and fine, introduce age-based certification, and empower the Central government to order recertification of an already certified film following receipt of complaints.
Several industry veterans, including actors and filmmakers, have called the proposal a “blow to the film fraternity” as they believe it will potentially endanger freedom of expression and democratic dissent in their letter to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Friday.
Benegal, who headed a committee to take a holistic look at the functioning of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and submitted its report to the I&B Ministry in 2016, said the proposed amendment doesn”t make sense.
“I don”t understand why this has come up in the first place. I am actually at a loss, thinking what exactly is the point of this. Unless they want to hold on to and have chosen to function the way they want… to have control over the media. We are a democratic country, our media is supposed to be free,” Benegal told PTI.
The veteran said when there”s already an existing system of the CBFC, there should be no outside control, especially by the government
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