Benegal’s proposal for ‘adult with caution’ category awaits govt’s nod

If the Centre accepts Shyam Benegal Committee’s suggestion to introduce the category of ‘adult with caution’ (A/C) for film certification then movies with excessive adult content including nudity, could pass the censor’s table and be screened in select halls.

The proposed A/C category will not include pornography, but will be a certificate for films with explicit sexual content. These films will however, not find a place in most cinema halls that screen films with universal or even adult certification.

Benegal told HT that A/C category will not include pornographic films, nor will it mean a certification for every film with excessive sexual content.

The government is yet to accept the recommendations made by the Benegal Committee, but sources said a report based on the first set of suggestions could soon be available in the public domain.

Sources in the information and broadcasting ministry said the panel’s recommendation will be “deliberated upon” by taking into account viewers’ sensibilities.

“In the past, films that were certified as ‘Adults Only’ were also discouraged from having excessive nudity or sexual content,” an official said, adding that as many as five films could not be screened in 2015 after they were found to be “unfit” for viewing.

In 2002, the then Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Vijay Anand had to resign from his post after the government turned down his suggestion to allow ‘soft-porn films’ to be released. The government had said it would “neither be desirable nor in order to consider the suggestion”.

In 2015, the decision to withhold permission for release of films with excessive adult content was not taken by the Pahlaj Nihalani-headed CBFC alone.

The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), which has often reversed the cuts suggested by the CBFC also agreed that films such as Raj Amit’s Kumar’s ‘Unfreedom: Blemished Light’, based on the theme of homosexuality could not see the light of day on account of its adult content.

Among the films that were refused certification because they had sexually explicit content or were themed around homosexuality and drug use were Mastizade, an adult sex comedy and Kala Sach, based on the theme of women being branded witches.

Makers of both the films, however, reshot portions of the movies as was suggested by the CBFC and the FCAT to seek recertification. A film titled ‘Hyena’ was turned down twice, after both the CBFC and the FCAT found the content unsuitable for Indian audiences.

Controversial film ‘Messenger of God’, directed by religious leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Jeetu Arora was also denied certification, forcing the makers to issue disclaimers about the film being a work of fiction and Rahim Singh not being God.