16 September,2026 09:16 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Suniel Shetty, Preity Zinta and Pankaj Tripathi. Pics via Instagram
The Centre on Wednesday reconstituted the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). As part of the overhaule and new 18-member panel was named, including actors Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, and Suniel Shetty, among others. Notably, the new board has been constituted with immediate effect for three years.
On Wednesday, the Centre announced the reconstitution of the CBFC panel. Chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati is believed to lead an 18-member panel which includes names like Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Pallavi Joshi, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rupali Ganguly, Priyadarshan, and Ricky Kej, among others.
The newly announced panel also includes Nila Madhab Panda, Manoj Joshi, Abhishek Jain, Supriya Yarlagadda, film critic Vinod Anupam, poet and writer Yatindra Mishra, Nishigandha Wad, as well as singer and former parliamentarian Hansraj Hans. Among the 18, theatre director Waman Kendre and writer Ramesh Patange are the only two returning members of the previous board who have been retained.
The now-dissolved board included Vidya Balan, Vivek Agnihotri, former footballer Mihir Bhutia, Gautami Tadimalla, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Jeevitha Rajasekhar, T S Nagabharana and Naresh Chandra Lal, alongside Kendre and Patange.
An I&B Ministry official told NDTV, "The reconstitution had been pending for some time, with some members of the previous board no longer active and the terms of some others having passed away."
Notably, the CBFC was last reconstituted in August 2017 for a three-year term. However, the members of the board continued beyond their three year term, which ended back in 2020 in the absence of a fresh reconstitution. The provisions reportedly allowed them to remain in office till successors are appointed.
While announcing the new board, the ministry added that the reconstitution was carried out "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."
Notably, the changes in the CBFC come after a long debate around the censorship of films. In recent times, the CBFC has made headlines over the censorship of several films, including Satluj, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Obsession, Jana Nayagan, Welcome to the Jungle, among others.
One of the most talked-about issues was Diljit Dosanjh's Satluj, which was earlier titled Punjab 95. The film reportedly spent nearly three years stuck in the certification process after being submitted to the CBFC in 2022. The makers alleged that the board sought as many as 127 cuts.
