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Tag: FCAT

  • FCAT abolished, filmmakers criticise government’s decision

    FCAT abolished, filmmakers criticise government’s decision

    NEW DELHI: It was on April 7 that the government decided to abolish the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) with immediate effect. The statutory body was formed in 1983 to hear appeals from filmmakers against the rulings by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). FCAT has played a crucial role in releasing several films which were initially banned from screening by the CBFC. 

    The Centre’s decision to do away with the FCAT has been met with widespread condemnation from filmmakers in the country, with industry stakeholders opining that such a move from the government could lead to creative restrictions, and may even delay film releases. 

    With the FCAT now dismantled, producers and directors unhappy with the censor board's verdict will have to approach the high court for remedy. 

    Soon after the abolition of FCAT, several prominent personalities including National Award-winning filmmakers Hansal Mehta and Vishal Bharadwaj, and actor Richa Chadha took to social media to pan the move. 

    "Do the high courts have a lot of time to address film certification grievances? How many film producers will have the means to approach the courts? The FCAT discontinuation feels arbitrary and is definitely restrictive. Why this unfortunate timing? Why take this decision at all?" tweeted Hansal Mehta. 

    Omkara director Vishal Bhardwaj censured the government's move to shut down the FCAT, calling it a “sad day for cinema.” 

     

     

    CBFC former chairperson and actor Sharmila Tagore also came out in support of filmmakers and made it clear that the decision to abolish FCAT could not only consume the time of the judiciary but also delay the release of films. 

    "I don’t know what the rationale is, what was the reason for doing this. I don’t want to comment on it at all. But FCAT was a body that was presided over by a judge and they had very eminent members. I felt since there was a legal body already present, why can’t that body look into these PILs and then later, the courts are always there. The problem with the court is everything takes a little longer. Producers can’t risk it. For them, even a week’s loss is huge," Tagore told Indian Express. 

    Several filmmakers had previously made use of FCAT to release their films on time. In 2017, Alankrita Shrivastava had approached FCAT after CBFC refused to certify Lipstick Under My Burkha. After watching the movie, FCAT asked to give an 'A' certificate to the movie with a few edits. In 2016, it was the intervention of FCAT that helped Anurag Kashyap to release his film Udta Punjab. 

  • Sony can air ‘Danish Girl’ on TV as Tribunal reverses CBFC order

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures is now free to telecast ‘The Danish Girl’ on television.

    The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) has ordered the Censor Board to grant certification to the British-American film for viewing on TV channels, by reversing the Board’s directive against airing the film on television.

    The FCAT observed the film shows the “travails and sufferings of a husband who struggles to find his own identity, believing that he should be a woman.” “His wife empathises with him, remaining by his bed side all through his sex reassignment surgery in the 18th century,” it said.

    The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had approved the film for a theatrical release in January 2017 and granted it an A certificate. In March, however, the CBFC refused U/UA certification to the film necessary for a film to be telecast on TV channels, saying that the film should be viewed only by “mature adults”, Hindustan Times reported.

    Based on by David Ebershoff’s fictional novel, the 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by Tom Hooper is loosely inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. The film features Eddie Redmayne as Elbe, one of the first known recipients of the reassignment surgery. 

    Citing a Supreme Court decision that granted recognition of gender identity to the transgender community by acknowledging the existence of the ‘third gender’, the FCAT chaired by Justice Manmohan Sarin reversed the CBFC’s decision.

    Sony Pictures had, in their appeal, showed television shows revolving around similar subjects. Seeking U/UA certification, they had also offered 14 cuts in scenes and dialogues to make the film eligible for the small screen viewers.

    Sony cited the examples of films such as Milk, The Brokeback Mountain, Boys Don’t Cry and D Train, and stated that these movies had been approved for telecast on Indian television after grant of U/UAcertificate. The production house, similarly, referred to shows such as Shakti-Ek Ehsaas Ki and The Big F that were being telecast on different channels.

  • Empowered Committee recommends re-drafting of Cinematograph Act 1952

    NEW DELHI: The empowered Committee under the chairmanship of retired Punjab and High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal has submitted a fresh draft of the Cinematograph Act 1952 to incorporate its recommendations related to certification of films and piracy issues.

    In its report submitted to Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today, the Committee has also dealt with issues such as advisory panels, guidelines for certification and issues such as portrayal of women, obscenity and communal disharmony, classification of Films and jurisdiction of the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT).

    The Committee also gave its views on advisory panels in different parts of the country to the Central Board of Film Certification; apart from ways to deal with video piracy.

    A thorough review of the Cinematograph Act has also been undertaken in the light of developments over the last six decades.

    The Censorship Guidelines were last amended on 6 December 1991. The Board presently consists of non-official members and a chairman (all of whom are appointed by Central Government) and functions with headquarters at Mumbai. It has nine Regional offices/Advisory Panels, one each at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cuttack and Guwahati. The Regional Offices are assisted in the examination of  films by Advisory Panels. The members of the panels are nominated by Central Government by drawing people from different walks of life for a period of two years. 

    The committee was constituted by the Ministry on 4 February 2013 and held several meetings during its eight-month tenure with various stakeholders. These meetings were held in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Eminent persons connected with the film sector were invited by the Committee to present their views. The Committee also held discussions with members and officials of CBFC, officials of the Animal Welfare Board of India, Chairperson of BCCC, representatives of the Film Federation of India, the Films and Television Producers Guild of India and the Multiplex Association of India.

    Other members of the Committee are former I and B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma; FCAT Chairman Lalit Bhasin; former CBFC Chairperson Sharmila Tagore; eminent film lyricist Javed Akhtar; CBFC Chairperson Leela Samson; South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce Secretary and former Film Federation of India President L Suresh; Supreme Court advocate Ms Rameeza Hakim, and I and B Joint Secretary (Films) Raghvendra Singh who was the member convener.  

  • Empowered Committee recommends re-drafting of Cinematograph Act 1952

    Empowered Committee recommends re-drafting of Cinematograph Act 1952

    NEW DELHI: The empowered Committee under the chairmanship of retired Punjab and High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal has submitted a fresh draft of the Cinematograph Act 1952 to incorporate its recommendations related to certification of films and piracy issues.

     

    In its report submitted to Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today, the Committee has also dealt with issues such as advisory panels, guidelines for certification and issues such as portrayal of women, obscenity and communal disharmony, classification of Films and jurisdiction of the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT).

     

    The Committee also gave its views on advisory panels in different parts of the country to the Central Board of Film Certification; apart from ways to deal with video piracy.

     

    A thorough review of the Cinematograph Act has also been undertaken in the light of developments over the last six decades.

     

    The Censorship Guidelines were last amended on 6 December 1991. The Board presently consists of non-official members and a chairman (all of whom are appointed by Central Government) and functions with headquarters at Mumbai. It has nine Regional offices/Advisory Panels, one each at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cuttack and Guwahati. The Regional Offices are assisted in the examination of  films by Advisory Panels. The members of the panels are nominated by Central Government by drawing people from different walks of life for a period of two years.

     

    The committee was constituted by the Ministry on 4 February 2013 and held several meetings during its eight-month tenure with various stakeholders. These meetings were held in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Eminent persons connected with the film sector were invited by the Committee to present their views. The Committee also held discussions with members and officials of CBFC, officials of the Animal Welfare Board of India, Chairperson of BCCC, representatives of the Film Federation of India, the Films and Television Producers Guild of India and the Multiplex Association of India.

    Other members of the Committee are former I and B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma; FCAT Chairman Lalit Bhasin; former CBFC Chairperson Sharmila Tagore; eminent film lyricist Javed Akhtar; CBFC Chairperson Leela Samson; South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce Secretary and former Film Federation of India President L Suresh; Supreme Court advocate Ms Rameeza Hakim, and I and B Joint Secretary (Films) Raghvendra Singh who was the member convener.

  • Single Window Clearance Mechanism for Shooting of Foreign Films in India Shortly: Tewari

    Single Window Clearance Mechanism for Shooting of Foreign Films in India Shortly: Tewari

    NEW DELHI: A notification is being issued soon for constitution of an Inter-Ministerial Empowered Committee which would provide single window clearance for shooting of foreign films in India.

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today said the proposed committee would include representatives of the State Governments and key Central Government Ministries. The creation of such an empowered committee would provide the platform and impetus to promote India as a filming destination across the world.

    He said the Justice Mudgal Committee constituted to review the mandate and functioning of the Central Board of Film Certification and to recommend measures including statutory changes to enable CBFC to deal with contemporary requirements of certification and increased transparency / efficiency was expected to submit its recommendations shortly. These recommendations would enable the Ministry to review the legal architecture for the film certification process. Tewari added that the mandate of the Committee was extremely comprehensive and would provide the roadmap for the future.

    The Committee would also review the categories of certification, existing and proposed, under the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2013. This will be done to review the mandate and functioning of Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) in order to make it a more efficacious appellate body and to examine the role of Central Government regarding sanctioning of cinematograph films for exhibition under Entry 60, List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India vis-?-vis Entry 33, List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India.

    Delivering his key note address at the release of the Limca Book of Records 2013 dedicated to 100 years of Indian Cinema, Tewari said this initiative was an important step as the country was celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema. He said the publication was a true tribute to the cinematic heritage of India. It had enabled the country to project the power of cinema across the globe and promote India’s image as a soft power.

    On the occasion, the Minister also felicitated cinema luminaries for their contribution to the medium and conferred on them “People of the Year” Awards. They included actor Shabana Azmi, cinematographer Santosh Sivan, director Jahnu Barua, choreographer, actor and director Prabhu Deva, maker of wildlife documentaries Mike Pandey, and Telegu film maker K Viswanath.