The Cinematograph Act came into force in 1952 and since then has undergone few significant amendments the latest being the release of Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India in the month of June released the draft to sought comments from the public. The draft bill lacks many of the important recommendations which were made by Justice Mudgal Committee and Shyam Bengal Committee. The proposed amendments has opened up discourse among the people of the film fraternity who are concerned about the government being empowered with overriding powers over the cinema industry and the freedom of speech and expression being curtailed. The blog here discusses the Bill in brief and puts lights on why some of the proposed changes are being considered problematic and criticised.

-Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, revisionary powers, super- censor, CBFC

INTRODUCTION

"Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood."
-Walt Disney

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 20211 last month and since then has been receiving severe criticism and discontentment from various actors, and directors of the film fraternity .The new Bill seeks to amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952. It inter alia aims to penalize piracy or transmission of a copy of a film during its exhibition, introduce age-based sub-categories of U/A certification and re-introduce revisionary powers of Central government to re-examine film already certified by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).The draft also proposes to give certificate to films for perpetuity which as of now is set for ten years .However the release of the draft bill post the abolition of FCAT which was the only existing redressal mechanism accompanied by new restrictive OTT regulations has raised many concerns and many of its changes are being seen as problematic.

DILUTION OF CREATIVE FREEDOM

The new draft proposes on adding a proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 6 that would permit the Government to order re-certification of a film on account of violation of Section 5B (1) that has already been certified by CBFC. This step will not only curb the freedom of the filmmaker but also violate the right of the filmmaker to artistic expression and creativity along with suppressing the ability of the viewers to make informed decisions. The Supreme Court in its judgement of K.M Shankarappa V. Union of India2 proclaimed that Union Government cannot exercise revisional powers in respects of films already certified by CBFC .Thus by vesting the revisionary powers with the centre, this proposed change in the bill is not only over turning the decision of the Court but also encroaches on the freedom of creativity which should be considered unconstitutional. However the ministry has quoted "reasonable restrictions" under Article 19 of the Constitution as justification of exercising its revisionary power and playing the role of super censor for films which it receives complaints.

INTIMIDATION TO MOB CENSOR AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE

The film industry has been battling censorship since a long time now .Adding on the abolition of the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal through the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service)Ordinance, 2021has left no room for the filmmakers to take up their grievances other than High Courts which is the only institution to address any kind of disputes and complaints. The very proposed change of re-certification has added up an extra layer of censorship depriving the filmmakers of any power and exposing them to more threats and mob censors. Implementation of the bill would give the call of power of screening in the hands of Government who would time and again use the powers to impede the release of films for fulfilling their political interests or stay the release of films if it does not confer to their political ambits. Like in the case of Sree Raghavendra Films v. Government of Andhra Pradesh3 the screening of the film "Bombay "in its Telegu version was discontinued in exercise of powers under a section of the state Cinemas regulation Act ,1955 even though it was given a green pass by the Censor board for public exhibition. Later it was learnt that the authorities who had passed the order had not even taken a look of the film. Thus passing of these proposed changes would lead to frequent such happenings thus resulting in undesirable delays and losses for the stakeholders in the film.

Apart from this suggestions have also been put up by filmmakers and studios to opt for a systematic solution to combat piracy issues and the mere enhancing of penalties against piracy would not help to counter it at the grass-root level. Section 7(1A) of the proposed bill lays down the penalties if Section 6AA is contravened and according to it penalties are ranged from three months to three years of imprisonment and /or fine which will be worth 3 lakh rupees extending upto 5% of the audited gross production cost of the film.

CONCLUSION

The freedom of expression of both filmmakers and members of the public are likely to have a significant impact if changes proposed by the bill are to be considered. It will give the government unconstrained powers to control public screening of a movie .While the penalization of piracy and age based certification has been little less criticised the film fraternity has found the proposed measure of re-examination of a film by the centre undesirable. This new power will not only delay the production of a film but also keeps the producers at risk of losing huge amount of money during re-shoots and lead to economic losses in the field. Also it keep within bounds the creativity of the filmmaker and the free will of the people .With the entire chaos and disagreement going around some of the provisions of the Bill the government could adopt certain measures before implementing the bill. As there has been a lot of commotion post the abolition of FCAT regarding a complaint redressal body steps can be taken to strengthen the CBFC so that it is entitled to act as a redressal body. Also a separate redressal body for all media and over –the –top platforms can be created that is administered by CBFC. Having said that the government should ensure less involvement in film-making industry as there already exists required checks and balances in place in the form of guidelines framed by the Union and the same considered by the CBFC .

Footnotes

1. Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021 dated 18.06.2021, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India

2. Appeal (civil) 3106 of 1991

3. 1995 (2) ALT 43

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