The Lok Sabha on July 31, 2023, passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, days after the draft law was cleared by the Rajya Sabha. The Bill provides for fining and imprisoning people who record movies inside cinemas. It also expands the number of age ratings available to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which censors and clears films for public exhibition. However, the censorship powers of the CBFC have been retained.
Changes in the CBFC’s functioning in the last few decades have also been incorporated into the statute itself. For instance, the revisional power of the government, which was taken away by a 1991 Supreme Court judgment, has been struck off from the Cinematograph Act, 1952, which the Bill amends. A 2019 version of the Bill had faced stiff opposition from the film industry for re-introducing this requirement, which would allow the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to revoke a film’s certification and require it to be reviewed once more by the CBFC.
The Bill also formalises other practices that have evolved in the past, such as the facility to re-certify a film rated for adults (with an ‘A’ rating) for television. While TV programmes do not have to be censored by the CBFC, following court decisions it has not been permissible since 2007 for movies that have been rated ‘A’ to be telecast.
The censorship powers of the CBFC — which allow them to demand cuts failing which a film will not be cleared for exhibition to the public — were left untouched by the Bill. A Committee of Experts tapped by the I&B Ministry headed by veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal had suggested in 2017 that the CBFC’s only role should be to determine the maturity of content, not to recommend cuts.
Anurag Thakur, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, said in the Lok Sabha that the Bill’s anti-piracy provisions would benefit the entire film industry. The Bill will become law after it is signed by the President of India.
