Shabana wants US-like rating system in India. Why it’s a bad idea

We are a multi-lingual multi-cultural society. A few production houses cannot represent a diverse country like India.

New Delhi, Dec 21: Veteran actress Shabana Azmi has once again lashed out at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), better known as Censor Board, while batting for the US system of certification for movies.

Speaking at the Metaphor Lucknow Litfest, Azmi claimed that India is currently following the UK style of censorship, but the country should make changes to the Cinematograph Act, 1952. According to her, once the movie is censored there should not be any law and order issue.

"I have been screaming from the rooftops for several years, that there is a need to amend the Cinematograph Act. When you have certified a film for public view, then there should not be law and order problems, but still posters are being burned and movie halls are being vandalized. Freedom of expression means that you can speak harsh words, but if it triggers communal riots, then it's the State responsibility to handle and control it," a daily quoted her as saying.

The US system

Before going to the merits or demerits of our system, let us check out what the US system is all about. The US follows the system where the Motion Picture Association (MPA) gives ratings for movies. It is represented by Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros Entertainment, along with Netflix. It is a voluntary scheme that is not enforced by law and films can be exhibited without a rating. However, most theatres refuse to exhibit non-rated or NC-17 rated films.

The problem begins with these production houses controlling the rating system. It is because movies made under these banners will obviously get better ratings than independent or small-budget movies which are not made by these production houses. For decades now, the MPA system has been accused of inconsistency in ratings and being biased towards independent and foreign films.

Why it won't work in India

Will a one-nation-one-rating system work in a country like India? The answer is "no", because India is not the US. We are a multi-lingual multi-cultural society. What North Indian filmmakers feel right might not be appropriate for the audience down South. Surprisingly, people like Azmi, who have been complaining about BJP's 'One Nation' tagged projects, want MPA-like ratings in place.

Well, a few production houses cannot represent a diverse country like India. In the US, the five production houses control the majority of the business, but this is not true in the case of India where each language (or most) has its own film industries. So, a few production houses backed by corporates should not control the rating systems.

Against Freedom of Expression

Indian movies are made in many languages and are mostly small budgets. Only a handful of movies are backed by big production houses. As a result, filmmakers and producers had the freedom to make the movies that they really wanted to, but the rating system will sooner or later allow a few to control the film industry. In other ways, it is against the freedom of expression.

Law & order issue

Coming back to Azmi's other point that the law and order situation is the State's responsibility, the population of the United States is roughly 34 crore and it has over 9 lakh sworn law enforcement officers serving the country now. In India, 17.31 lakh are guarding 139 crore population. Can't she see the difference?

So, the police departments are already overburdened and the government is not in a position to take unnecessary troubles that filmmakers try to create in the name of freedom of expression. Moreover, it is a developed country and Indian society is not like a typical Western society. We are emotional by nature. Be it in the matters of relationships or religion or language, we are different as compared to the West.

Moreover, the maturity of the filmmakers too comes into picture. For example, a Kannada filmmaker might make a movie on the Cauvery dispute projecting Tamil Nadu in a bad light and then expect it to release in Tamil Nadu. Can Tamil Nadu people and government allow the movie to be released in their State without censoring the objectionable scenes?

We may say that people have the option to boycott the film, but still it has the chance to spread lies and hatred, right? Especially when the leftists have been complaining about the BJP since it came to power in 2014 that it is using electronic medium and digital platforms to spread falsehood.

Already, the Hindu sentiments are being frequently hurt by the filmmakers and if a rating system like that of the US comes to effect here, one can imagine how the filmmakers in this heavily left-leaning ecosystem would use the opportunity to degrade the Hindu way of life. Without censorship, the filmmakers can go to any extent, like the way the OTT platforms are witnessing where they have normalised nudity, sex and abusive language.

If the intent of Azmi is to allow this to happen without any hindrance, then only God can save the Indian film industry. Last but not the least, why do we still have to see ourselves through the glasses of Western culture? Is it not time to adopt Brand India culture for such certification? Time to ponder!