Central Board of Film Certification
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The Central Board of Film Certification or CBFC is the regulatory film body and censor board of India. It is quite similar to the MPAA of USA. However, the rating system of the CBFC is different from that of the MPAA. Posters are also censored by the CBFC.
According to the Supreme Court of India:
| “ | Film censorship becomes necessary because a film motivates thought and action and assures a high degree of attention and retention as compared to the printed word. The combination of act and speech, sight and sound in semi darkness of the theatre with elimination of all distracting ideas will have a strong impact on the minds of the viewers and can affect emotions. Therefore, it has as much potential for evil as it has for good and has an equal potential to instill or cultivate violent or good behaviour. It cannot be equated with other modes of communication. Censorship by prior restraint is, therefore, not only desirable but also necessary | ” |
As of 2006, there is no movie which is passed by CBFC which contains frontal nudity and sex-scenes.
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[edit] Chairmen
Vijay Anand was chairman from 2001 until his resignation in 2002. After that, Anupam Kher also worked for the CBFC. Sharmila Tagore is the present chairman of the CBFC.
[edit] Rating System
The rating system they have incorporated is as follows:
- U : Universal (or Unrestricted): This rating is given to a movie which has no objectionable material. A movie which has a rating of U contains no or minor violence and sensuality.
- U/A : Unrestricted with adult accompiament. This rating is given to a movie which contains mild violence, language and sensuality. The movie may contain some material unsuitable for children under 12.
- A : Adults: This rating is given to a movie which contains extreme violence, sexuality (partial nudity also included), frightening images and language. The term Adult is not defined by the CBFC but it usually means a person at least 18 years of age. Note that most theaters, including the modern multiplexes in Indian metros, do not follow the classification by restricting the audience based on age. It is common to see young children watching "A" movies. "A" movies are shown on Indian television channels also. The state owned television channels usually show such movies late at night.
- S : Special: This rating is very rare. This rating indicates that the movie is only for special class.
The certificate issued by the board is usually shown as a still image at the beginning of a movie. The advertisements shown in a movie theater are also classified and the certificate is shown before their screening. The policy regarding movie trailers is not clear.
[edit] Explicit scenes
There is a marginal adult movie industry in India (mostly concentrated in the Southern states) which do show a lot of upper body nudity (breasts) of porn actresses. Such movies are classified as "A" movies but are not shown in mainstream theaters. The production standards of such movies are extremely poor.
Since the late eighties, the censor board has become more tolerant of explicit scenes. Earlier, even an "A" movie could not contain any scenes of breasts or any prolonged sexual scenes. The censorship in mainstream movies is usually self-imposed by the film producers, or due to the traditional nature of the cast, explicit scenes (e.g. lip-to-lip kissing) used to be extremely rare.
