SSB GD Series: Is Censorship needed in Entertainment Industry?

The entertainment industry is one of the most profitable industries in India. This is one industry, which would always stay in market and would never fade away. It entertains the viewers, particularly the youth and earns billions in return. It is something, which cannot be chained or put under restrictions; well at least it seems so. But with the censor board in power even the entertainment industry seems to be bounded thus preventing the fine works of various actors and directors to see the light of the day.

Click here to read about Chinese Economic slowdown and its impact
Also read: Top 5 terrorist organisations operating in Pakistan

In this era of booming technology, where Internet has taken over the world with storm, putting censorship on movies seems both beneficial and old age. Where on one hand censorship on movies prevent obscene content to be shown on television and in theaters and aims at protecting the young minds from getting affected by that, the pornographic sites on the Internet do exactly the opposite. Though the intent of censorship on the movies produced is good, but somehow in that intent to ban whatever which seems offensive the censorship board un-knowingly cuts down the hard work which has been put forth by the actors. Scenes, which took a lot of effort and retakes to produce, never actually get filmed.

Its not that censorship isn't useful and is backward, its just that in the present scenario, it is not finding much use. Many people have the belief that movies produced should be presented as such in the theaters as the directors have an equal liberty to show their art just like a painter and a writer does. If a painter can paint and display paintings which may only seem as nudity to some and as a piece of art which conveys a deeper meaning to others than why not a director?

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) locked horns with Bollywood over removal of word ‘lesbian’ from the movie ‘Dum Lga ke Haisha’ , but does creating issue every time people use such words in movies would actually solve the purpose of protecting the youth from getting  a bad influence? I doubt it. I’m not saying that the censor board should be abolished, as it really doesn't serve any purpose, all I mean to say is that the censor board instead of banning everything “they” find obscene should focus more on the theme of the movies. Any movie, which hurts the religious sentiments of people belonging to a certain community, should face the heat. Any movie, which could spark up violence or riots, which shows one sex superior over the other, should be banned. Banning sex scenes from movies won’t really do much. If not that movie, people who want to watch adult content would watch it online, and that is what most people do. How long can they ban such scenes from movies? Porn is available online, can they ban it? Well clearly NO. I ask who are they protecting and from what?

Click here to read about: Updates on Child Labor Amendment Bill
Also read: Will India ever make to International Football?

It all boils down to what people want to watch, some may be okay with it while others may not be. If you don’t like watching something or you find something obscene, don’t watch it.  We need to keep our minds open about things. Strengthen our minds and take things in a more matured way. Recently the documentary about Nirbhaya was made, the girl who was gang raped in a moving bus in December 2012. The documentary was banned in India. If the censor board is so concerned about protecting the youth from bad influence why doesn't it release the documentary instead so that the entire country knows the pain the girl went through and what her parents are going through right now and what her rapists think about women? Exposure to that documentary would only strengthen the youth’s resolution to stop rape, the whole nation maybe be divided on various factors as everyone has his own viewpoint, but this is something where people would stand together and come forward to prevent the wrong from happening. The censor board needs to keep its priorities straight. This is my view on the censor board, I may appear in complete opposition of the censor board but the facts laid down by me convey the same story as well.
Hope you like our efforts to update the SSB aspirants with the latest GD/ Lecturette topics. Join our facebook group and be updated with the latest happenings. Share it with your friends and other defense aspirants. Follow us here and subscribe for email notifications.Drop us a mail and visit our Contact us section for more details

About the Author: Shekhar Tanwar is a computer science engineer who is working with a renowned MNC and is a die heart defense aspirant. Guitar is his passion and he is very firm believer of physical fitness. This article is a way to help defense aspirants to present his critical views on the topic, on the forum so that collective exchange of thoughts can take place.