Govt reconstitutes Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)

• The Union government has reconstituted the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for a period of three years.

• The reconstitution has been carried out by the Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, read with Rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024.

• The CBFC was last reconstituted on August 11, 2017, for a three-year term, which ran till 2020. 

• Members of that board, however, continued beyond their stipulated tenure because provisions allowed them to remain in office until their successors were appointed.

• The new board is headed by CBFC chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati.

The reconstituted Central Board of Film Certification comprises the following 18 members:

• Vinod Anupam

• Manoj Joshi

• Abhishek Jain

• Ricky Kej

• Priyadarshan

• Suniel Shetty

• Hansraj Hans

• Supriya Yarlagadda

• Yatindra Mishra

• Roopali Ganguly

• Preity Zinta

• Neela Madhab Panda

• Pankaj Tripathi

• Prosenjit Chatterjee

• Pallavi Joshi

• Nishigandha Wad

• Waman Kendre

• Ramesh Patange.

Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)

• The CBFC is a statutory body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952.

• Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they have been certified by CBFC.

• CBFC certifies films as per the Cinematograph Act, 1952, the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024 and the guidelines issued thereunder under the categories U, UA with UA marker, A and S, as applicable, and prevents dissemination of harmful content through scrutiny at the certification stage, including directions for excisions or modifications wherever required. 

• The ratings are U, UA (UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+), A and S.

• U - Unrestricted public exhibition.

• A - Restricted to adult audiences.

• UA - Unrestricted public exhibition subject to parental guidance for children.

• S - Restricted to specialised audiences such as doctors or scientists.

• The Board consists of non-official members and a chairman — all of whom are appointed by the central government — and functions with headquarters at Mumbai.

• It has nine regional offices, one each at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cuttack and Guwahati.

• The regional offices are assisted in the examination of films by advisory panels. 

• The members of the panels are nominated by the central government by drawing people from different walks of life for a period of two years.

• There is a Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) which has been constituted under section 5D of the 1952 Act for hearing appeals against any order of the CBFC. This tribunal is based in New Delhi.