CBFC (CENTRAL BOARD OF FILM CERTIFICATION)

Set up in Mumbai in the year 1951, the CBFC has regional offices in all the major metropolitan cities of India. The organisation has a chairman and 12-25 members. The term of office is 3 years. Danseuse Leela Samson is the current chairman of the CBFC. All films that are to be screened in India (Indian AND foreign) have to go to the CBFC to be rated. The CBFC has two committees; the examining committee watches and rates the films that come to the CBFC, the revising committee redoes this process in case the director or producer is not happy with the original rating. If they are still not happy with the rating given by the CBFC, for further revision, they can appeal to the FCAT (Film Certification Appellate Tribunal), a statutory body, which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. Sometimes, a film can lie with the CBFC for a very long time, in case it has controversial content. Anurag Kashyaps Black Friday was one such movie, which was waiting for its rating for a long time, since the verdict on the Black Friday case (which is the subject of the movie) was still pending. The ratings of the CBFC fall under 4 categories: U Universal U/A Universal, under parental guidance A For viewing by adults only S Restricted to a specialised audience, like doctors The CBFC looks out to prevent the usage of Nudity, sexual perversion Violence, especially towards against children Degradation of women Foul language Insult to handicapable people Animal abuse Statements against any particular country, community, caste, religion, etc. The CBFC also looks for aesthetic value in movies. Also, the CBFC urges filmmakers to credit the original writers or authors of their films, in case of a remake or adaptation.