All this looks fine from one angle- “Freedom to speak” is what every publisher, writer, director is looking for in this World. But this world has its own rules, if one is in a Socialist country like China almost everything said and done on media is subjected to Govt’s scrutiny but what if you’re in a democracy like India or US?
Let’s look at this from both point of views. Censorship is important for rating films, there may be films which are not suitable for minors. But there are some movies which are not suitable for every type of audience and just giving them an “A” sign will not help audience clearly identify their type. For e.g. movies like “Omkara”- its not a film which one adult can watch with another adult (senior) family member in it’s original form. If some scenes are not removed such movies can face revolt from various organizations. Now that’s exactly my second important point- if censorship is not done there can be many sensitive organizations/political groups which will try to damage theatres and hurt audience. You can be in a democratic country but mindset of people here is not as if they will accept anything and everything. Just imagine the kind of resistance “Jodha Akbar” faced in Rajasthan for incorrectly using Jodha’s name in the movie. Now that would sound plain stupid on any given day but its a fact.
But then censorship and banning are two different terms- sometimes the scenes are cut to an extent that it makes the movie irrelevant or soul-less. As Anurag Kashyap puts it- “‘Death of A President’ was made with President George Bush still alive, but we can’t introduce a scene where four people are chatting over tea and cursing politician Raj Thackeray,” .
In my opinion Movie censorship should not be under Ministry’s control because it directly influences the media. More than language or sensual issues the scenes get banned because of political issues, as they show one or the other politician in bad light. ‘Fire’ and ‘Hava Aney Dey” were completely banned in India after their release due to political reasons.
It should be an autonomous board and should have judges from various organizations/groups who can take responsibility on behalf of their community and can ensure that movie runs without any disruptions.
What say? Do you also suggest an autonomous body for India’s censor board or do you think that its our responsibility to decide what to watch and what not to?