CBFC reconstitutes the 18-member committee, includes Preity Zinta, Roopali Ganguly, Pallavi Joshi, Pankaj Tripathi

Mumbai, Sep 16 (IANS) The Ministry Information and Broadcasting has reconstituted the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

On Wednesday, the CBFC took to their social media, and made the announcement. The reconstitution has been carried out by the Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, read with Rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024.

The committee consists of 18 members, and includes personalities like Preity Zinta, Suniel Shetty, Roopali Ganguly, Pallavi Joshi, Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Joshi, Neela Madhab Panda, Prosenjit Chatterjee and others

The committee has been reconstituted in exercise of the powers conferred under Cinematograph Act for a period of three years or until further orders.

However, there has been no communication from the board with regards to the chief of the body. Currently, Shashi Shekhar Vempati serves the as chief as he replaced Prasoon Joshi in May this year.

He earlier served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Prasar Bharati between 2017 and 2022, a position which Prasoon Joshi currently holds.

The changes in the CBFC follow a long drawn debate around the censorship of films. Recently, ‘Satluj’, which starred Diljit Dosanjh in the lead, was caught in the storm. The film, which was earlier titled ‘Punjab 95’, spent nearly three years in the cans as it was stuck in the certification process after being submitted to the CBFC in 2022.

Its makers had alleged that the board sought 127 cuts. When the film eventually appeared on OTT in July under the new title Satluj, it was released without cuts. However, within 48 hours, it was removed from the platform in India.

–IANS

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