No advance bookings?
The impending digital avatar of Central Board of Film CertificationC (CBFC)C in midMarc March — which means that films will now be certifiedc online — will most likely solve one of the biggest problems faced by the CBFC. That of film-makers announcing release dates of their projects even before sending their movies to CBFC for certification. For instance, Shah Rukh Khan (left) and Aanand L Rai’s untitled movie has blocked Christmas (December 25) 2018 as its release date, whereas Akshay Kumar- starrer (top left) Gold is slotted for Independence Day (August 15) in 2018.
“The proper way to do it is not announcing the date without certification. We’ll soon hold a press conference to announce the digitalisation of CBFC,” says CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani.
However, is it a beneficial step for film-makers? Madhur Bhandarkar believes that online certification will only pose more problems. “Certain big budget films have to have a pre-fixed release date. I’m sure the senior people in the industry and the CBFC will reach an amicable solution. Of course, there cannot be disparity between a smallbudget movie and a bigbudget film,” he says.
Aanand L Rai says the process might streamline the system, but the cuts that CBFC orders are the real issue. “If you tell me that there are these many cuts required, only then I can obtain the certificate, it won’t help me online. It will make things difficult for us,” he says.
Producer Pritish Nandy, however, chooses to look at the positive side. “I think it’s a realistic move. For my last film, Mastizaade (2016), I had to change the release date six times. Why would I want a situation like that?”