Udta Punjab vs CBFC: Censorship in India needs reforms, says Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who is a member of the government-appointed censor board revamp committee, on Wednesday said that censorship in India needed reforms and cuts in movies should be abolished.

When asked about the controversy over Udta Punjab, Mehra said that censor board should only certify films according to age brackets, rather than running scissors.

"The idea of censoring in the country needs reforms. According to me, there should be no scissors. We have been working on it from past five months. Just last week, we completed and submitted the report to the I&B ministry. Obviously, we need to abolish the scissors," Mehra told PTI.

When asked about the criticism against censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag director said individuals cannot be a problem.

"I don't know how individuals can be a problem? Censor board has many individuals but human judgement should not be there because every person has his or her opinion. So, we should not be allowed to judge, we should give a film a certificate."

Mehra said that the certification was needed to safeguard children from sex, violence and drug abuse but feels it is not right to censor anything.

"We have to safeguard our children from sex, drug abuse and violence, but we cannot censor anything. We cannot tell a filmmaker, 'Make five cuts and come back'. Who are you to say that?" the director said.

The committee, headed by Shyam Benegal, also includes Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan, Goutam Ghosh and ad guru Piyush Pandey. Mehra said none of the members were 'yes men' and that's why they were chosen for suggesting "holistic" reforms for the controversy-laden censor board.