JSK vs Censor Board

Tens of thousands of people, from big stars to light boys, directly depend on cinema for their livelihood in India. The Indian film, television, and online curated content (OCC) industry contributed Rs 5.1 lakh crore (approximately $61 billion) to India's GDP in 2024. Moreover, films with artistic values tend to evoke a liveliness among viewers amid their hassle-filled work schedules. Movies, the lifestyles of stars, and their fashion obsessions all have an impact on society to a greater or lesser extent. As the only medium that can encompass and experience all art forms, cinema is gaining relevance in society.

Although resembling real-life characters, at the end of the day, cinema remains a fiction. The average Indian audience goes to watch films to forget their life's troubles and immerse themselves in another world of illusion, to enjoy and be entertained. Apart from artistic values, Cinema is also a medium to expose the depths and subtleties of human relationships and the injustices in society. This has helped Indian moviemakers to test new waters and to experiment with all genres of movies.

The government assigned censor board to review movies on the belief that cinema needs certain restrictions from the moral perspective of each country. They may also ask to exclude certain scenes that they feel may be harmful to the public. CBFC often doesn’t allow nudity and explicit scenes to be screened, unlike in foreign countries. Hitherto, movies faced a censor roadblock for nudity, violence or disparaging content targeting religious beliefs. In a new development, the censor board has asked makers of a Malayalam movie to change the names of characters for being synonymous with names of Hindu gods.

The Central Board of Film Certification has denied permission to screen the film 'J.S.K - Janaki Vs State of Kerala', starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, citing this strange reason. The CBFC decided that the character Janaki in the movie is portrayed as an assault survivor.

The names of the majority of Hindu women in India are the names of Hindu goddesses and their synonyms. Conforming to CBFC’s demand would pave the way for a new system where names synonymous with Hindu gods will be barred from films involving scandalous scenes. In olden days, there existed a draconian rule banning Dalits from naming their children after Hindu gods. The current happenings may look eerily similar to this archaic practice.

Cinema should be viewed as an art, not blasphemy. Pitching puerile reasons to create a roadblock for a movie's release is senseless and inane. Let’s hope that the court will reach a prudent decision to end the feud between JSK and the censor board.