Thaindian News

April 30, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): The Censor Board is speechless after a circular sent by the government announced that if a film features even a single smoking scene, it will land itself an “A’ certificate. Sharmila Tagore, the chief of the Censor Board, has decided to oppose the government’s decision.

According to Sharmila, the circular is completely absurd. Though she agrees that scenes that show smoking and actors smoking on screen leaves a bad impression, such a decision cannot be taken without consulting with the producers and that the matter is debatable.

Apart from this though, Sharmila is ok with the Board’s decisions. She states that she has nothing to do with what irritated filmmakers have to say and films like Kaminey and Love Sex Aur Dhoka (LSD) would never get a “U’ certificate. She adds that a lot of people inquire why such films are even passed.

She expresses that filmmakers object to the Board’s decision only to garner publicity for their film. She believes that a talking point is created when the doors of the Censor Board are knocked and that the Board censors films by following a certain code. The panel members aren’t allowed to talk to the producer directly and the process, according to her, has worked so far, except in the case of Ghajini.

She thinks it should never have gotten a UA certificate. She believes they made a very big mistake on that one. She admits she’s ready to resign for making a mistake with Ghajini even now but finds it strange that no one seemed to have a problem with it.

She finds it awful that people now use Ghajini as a reference point when making violent films. She is determined to not make the same mistake again.

– Sampurn Wire