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The X factor
Ex censor board chief Vijay Anand on his resignation
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Vickey Lalwani in Mumbai
Last week, Censor Board chief Vijay Anand put in his papers after Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj declined his request to issue censor certificates for pornographic films.
The former censor board chief had completed a tour of all film-making centres in the country on assuming office. He had a series of meetings with the regional officers of the Censor Board. In these meetings, the emphasis was on convincing them about the outdated censorship policies and the need to change them at the earliest.
He also met the chief ministers and governors of the major states to convince them about this need. "Most of our policies have been the same since the last five decades. We still go by the 1952 Act on this subject. The world has moved ahead. We need to keep up with the pace. In the United States, cinema is used as a medium of expression. I wish that the same can be implemented in our country. In this respect, I interact actively with the film-makers and compile their opinion too. The government has started taking sufficient interest in my recommendations," he began.
Anand says that foul words should not be used in films without justification. "I would see the theme of the film. We have allowed such language in Bandit Queen, Bawandar, Satya and Hyderabad Blues. It is imperative that foul words are not used just for the heck of it." he said.
Has any action been taken against Sanjay Gupta's Kaante which is reported to contain profanities? "Kaante still hasn't come to the Censor table. Till then, I can't say much," Anand said.
He continued, "Actually I keep a very open mind. I try to meet the film-maker halfway. But if a film-maker is irrational, adamant and rude. I can't help much."
What is the criteria for the Censor board to give a clean chit to objectionable films? Said Anand, "The Censor board does not permit such films to be released. These film-makers have a tricky modus operandi. They prepare two versions of the same film--one for the public and one for the censors. What is shown and approved by the censors does not see the light of day. Moreover, they release their products in Mumbai's outskirts and the smaller towns.
''Actually, we have our vigilance squad which has swooped down on the screening of such films and even arrested many guys in the past."
Is there no law, rather punishment, against such offenders? "There is, that's why they release the sleaze in smaller places where there is no publicity, hype or even any information about the film," he revealed.
And what about the two upcoming movies on lesbianism and homosexuality, Ghaav and Samvedna? "I wouldn't appreciate such movies. I don't know how the makers of these movies are extremely upbeat about their pooduct. It really amuses me," he smiled.
Had he banned Digvijay Singh's Maya? "I have not banned a single film in my tenure so far. In my first 10 days at the office, I passed Tutu Sharma's Paanch which had been lying in the cans for a very long time. Certain portions in Maya which deals with sexual abuse of children have been objected to. Some film-makers run to the media at the first disapproval from the censors' side. This helps them to simply create publicity for their movie. We have many committees. If the first committee finds anything wrong, the second committee sees it...and so on. There is no need to press the panic button without rationalising what is right and what is wrong," he remarked.
There is a school of thought (from the likes of G P Sippy, Mahesh Bhatt, et al) that censorship should be done away with. What did he have to say to that? "Let them come and sit in my chair and they'll change their opinion. If censorship is done away with, the law of the jungle will come to roost in Indian cinema. What if some anti-nationals take over and
make a movie on India being split into different states?" he asked.
At the concrete level, did he believe that life imitates films? "Maybe to an extent when kids watch adult films. The theatres should not allow these kids inside if and when they're screening such portrayals," he opined.
But will the theatres ever do it? "They will, but only when our films get classified into groups like 'U'(universal), 'PG'
(Parental Guidance), 'Adult' (violence, crude dialogues, etc) and 'X' (passion and exotica). X category does not mean pornography. The X theatres will be different, they'll be allotted a special license permitting them to screen that stuff, and
surprise-n-frequent checks would be carried out in these cinema houses," he said.
Anand said he was not advocating pornography in the form of 'X' category, but these would perhaps be films that were too bold for our cultural sensitivity.