India: Decoding The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023

'Lights, Camera & Action!' – an iconic expression in the realm of cinema, has also served as a cue for the members of the film crew at the commencement of every take. However, the extent to which each of these 'takes' feature in the final cut of the movie for public exhibition has often sparked debates between the film makers and lawmakers of the country which in turn, has prompted a catena of amendments to the primary legislation specifically governing censorship in cinema i.e., the Cinematograph Act, 1952. In what appears as a comprehensive piece of law, the Act addresses issues concerning film certification, piracy and powers of the Central Government in this regard. Through this article, INDUSLAW's Ranjana Adhikari, Srija Ray, Akshita Singh and Raghav Kapoor walk through the different iterations of the Cinematograph Amendment Bills over the course of time and shed light on the significant aspects of the Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023.

1. INTRODUCTION

Cinema, a word, that invariably resonates with the general population of the nation, has consistently been the focal point of contention between legislators and filmmakers. Given the industry's reliance on creativity and freedom of speech and expression, lawmakers have always grappled with the challenge of retaining its artistic and creative elements while ensuring that it remained socially responsible and sensitive to the values of the society. In this tussle between the two objectives, over the past few years, several key amendments have been proposed to, the Cinematograph Act, 1952 ("1952 Act"), India's primary piece of legislation specifically governing censorship in cinema. Issues pertaining to the procedure of certification of film under the 1952 Act have also been examined by a committee of experts led by Justice Mukul Mugdal in 20131 and by Mr. Shyam Benegal in 2016. 2 The subsequent amendments to the 1952 Act have been introduced keeping in mind their recommendations, the necessity to contemporize the certification process of a film and revisit the revisionary powers of the Central Government, and the measures adopted to tackle the menace of film piracy.

To facilitate an easy understanding of the history of the Cinematograph Amendment Act, 2023 ("Amendment Act"), a flow chart with key dates and events has been produced below:

The article throws light on the key provisions of the Amendment Act while drawing references to the amendments sought in the previous iterations of the Amending Act in the 2019 Bill and 2021 Bill (collectively referred to as "Bills"). In order to provide readers a thorough understanding, the article analyses each of these provisions in both its prior and current iterations while carefully assessing their significance in terms of their stated purposes in the sections below.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.