India
The Censor board in India is in its revamp mode it seems. The Shyam Benegal committee is trying hard to revamp Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the latest change that they are all set to bring is to replace the anti-smoking ads and tickers with just one static message at the beginning of the film. According to the committee, the tickers and the message in between the movies break the “narrative of the film”.
The major changes that the Shyam Benegal committee has proposed are as follows:
1. The committee has suggested screening of only one “meaningful static warning”, that would be made with standard visuals. It has to be approved by the health ministry against tobacco use and smoking at the start of the film.
2. For better anti-smoking films, the Benegal committee, that consists of artists like Kamal Haasan, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and Piyush Pandey have suggested that small films with popular actors should replace the current anti-smoking films. These big actors who will be a part of these awareness films, playing characters that smoke on the screen will help in spreading the message to a large number of people.
The second part of the report of the 8-member committee was submitted to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting recently.
According to officials, the first part of the recommendations is in the process of being scrutinized. These recommendations are to be made public soon.