The Information & Broadcasting Ministry has assured the film fraternity that suitable amendments would be proposed to the Cinematograph Act 1952 to combat film piracy.
Addressing a Consultation Meeting of Film Associations through video conferencing, I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra said the issues with respect to proposed Cinematograph Amendment Bill and anti-piracy issues will be addressed after consultation with the stakeholders of the industry. Today’s meeting in Mumbai followed a similar consultation with the film fraternity from South India, held in Chennai yesterday.
An Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice Mukul Mudgal was constituted in 2013 to examine the issues of certification under the Cinematograph Act, 1952. Another Committee of Experts was set up under the Chairmanship of Shri Shyam Benegal in 2016 to evolve broad guidelines for certification within the ambit of the Cinematograph Act and Rules. Among the recommendations is the age based certification of films.
Secretary Chandra also spoke about the merger of four film media units namely Films Division, Directorate of Film. Festivals, National Film Archives of India, and Children’s Film Society, India with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Ltd.
He expressed that the basic objective is NFDC should become the entity through which the revenues from the film sector can be utilized for development of the film sector. He went on to say that none of the existing schemes is being discontinued. “We will strengthen NFDC so that they can rotate staff and deliver on the responsibilities assigned to them.”
Additional Secretary I&B, Ms. Neerja Shekhar informed that comments of stakeholders and the general public have been received regarding suggestions on further improving the certification process of CBFC. She also pointed out the requirement for increasing the density of screens.
“The Government is planning to come up with single window clearances for opening of film theatres and also for event management.” She also informed that ideas are being sought for setting up rural theatres and mobile screens in order to achieve this objective. “We are going to work in a big way in increasing theatre density, in collaboration with states and UTs,” she mentioned.
Chairperson, CBFC Prasoon Joshi said that the change in design of the film certificate is symbolic of what the Board seeks to achieve, in terms of making processes seamless, digital and more stakeholder-friendly. “The process of certification has been smoothened as much as possible; while we continue to need human intervention for watching the films and certifying it, we have streamlined the system so as to speed up other parts of the process” he added.
