I&B minister: We intend to take forward suggestions by filmmakers

Filmmakers from Bollywood were all smiles after a meeting with the minister of state for information and broadcasting ended on a positive note The meeting was to discuss certification of films and other issues affecting the industryRajyavardhan Singh Rathore MoS for information and broadcasting with Gulzar Shabana Azmi Vidya Balan Rathore met producers and filmmakers at a suburban hotel in Mumbai on Monday PicYogen ShahThe discussion was about issues and ideas and not about any individual said Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting when asked if there was a proposal to replace Pahlaj Nihalani the controversial chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification CBFC popularly called Censor BoardThe minister addressed the media after a twohour meeting with the film fraternity Rathore said The film industry has come up with wonderful suggestions and we intend to take it forward The meeting was not about any individualHe however refused to divulge details Mukesh Bhatt president of the Film and Television Producers Guild said It was a fruitful discussion and it was nice of the minister to come down and give us the assuranceWe are creative people we were feeling vulnerable scared restless and worried He gave us the reassurance that were on the same page Both our aims are to take Indian cinema to a global level and that can only be done collectively and with the help of the government The issuesActresses like Vidya Balan Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma whose films have faced problems with the CBFC were present at the meeting According to a source Sharma spoke of her recent experience with NH10 wherein she mentioned the issues with CBFC and the process which forced her to push the release of her film by a weekThe minister was also told about cuss words that were deleted despite the ban on them put on hold In reply Rathore said It has to be a collective effort and the film industry should also understand that they need to bring their film for certification in time so that the process of certification is made to favour the film No individual can affect the certification of the filmThere is a process which involves the examining committee revising committee and finally the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal and no one person can hijack a film There were no direct suggestions to replace Nihalani a filmmaker who was present at the meeting saidThere was one voice though that the film industry be kept in the loop before the ministry selects the chairperson he added Kulmeet Makkar CEO of the Guild told midday The minister told us that any film with A certificate should be cleared without a single cut unless there is something in the film that seems forcedThere was a suggestion of moving towards selfregulation which was applauded by all Other suggestions included the nature of CBFC the jarring No Smoking disclaimer during films and litigation issues see box Aamir Khan Karan Johar Ritesh Sidhwani Madhu Mantena Anurag Kashyap Raju Hirani and many more producers were present at the meetingKhan who has been in favour of the rating system told the media that even the minister felt the same and said that Rathore even suggested that the CBFC should be called as a rating system because the word C in CBFC often leads people to think of Censoring than Certifying The minister will meet members of CBFC today to listen to their concerns