Censor Board treats us like five-year-olds, says Purab Kohli

Actor Purab Kohli welcomes actor Amol Palekar’s plea in the Supreme Court which challenges the pre-censorship of films by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). He hopes that it will bring in a positive change in the film industry. “It (the fight against archaic censorship rules) has been going on for a long time now. People should now realise that films are not just made for entertainment purposes,” says the 38-year-old.

In his petition, Palekar said that the CBFC doesn’t have any member with a legal background, which leads the board to violate filmmakers’ right to speech and expression. He also challenged provisions of the Cinematography Act, calling the “precensorship” of films “irrelevant” in the internet era.

Kohli agrees, and says that Censor Board is very “archaic” in its approach. “Apart from providing entertainment, films also help in opening up minds of individuals. CBFC’s rules take away that freedom from us. It [the board] treats like a bunch of five-year-olds, and thinks it can tell us what to watch or not watch,” he says.

The actor believes filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s rating system is the way to go forward. “Classify the film based on the content and give them PG ratings. Then do the crackdown on theatres to see if they are following the ratings or not,” says Purab.

People should now realise that films are not just made for entertainment purposes PURAB KOHLI, ACTOR