A-plus films to hit screens

The I&B Ministry has almost formalised amendments to the Cinematograph Act 1956 , which allows screening of adult movies through digital mode, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Aug 25, 2007, 03:08:25 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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NOT JUST adult-rated movies, Indian cine-goers may soon get to see movies rated adult-plus. But you have to be over 21 years of age to watch them. The permissible age for viewing adult movies is 18.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has almost formalised amendments to the Cinematograph Act 1956, revising the categorisation of censorship of movies and allowing simultaneous screening of movies all over the country through digital mode.

While a new adult-plus category will be added, the definition of adult (A) and universally adult (UA) movies is also being revised. “There would be more clarity on what amounts to indecent representation of women, what amounts to communalisation of content and what is against the interests of the country,” a top ministry official told HT.

In a bid to boost revenue earning from films, the ministry is likely to come out with a clear-cut policy on the use of satellite to screen movies all over the country at one go. “There are certain problems with state cinematograph rules which prohibit the use of satellite for screening films. It will be addressed in the amendments,” the official said.

The film industry has strongly sought the amendment, saying that Indian films no longer survive the box office for more than a few weeks. “Silver or golden jubilee days of films are gone. Even hit movies survive the box office for about a month at most.”

“In that case, the maximum reach of the movie in the first two weeks results in maximum revenue,” a trade analyst said.

Another major concern of the industry, piracy, is also being addressed in the amendments, by allowing security coding of digital prints released through satellite. This will prevent copying of movies from theatres, a ministry official said.

According to ministry officials, a comprehensive review of the Act has been conducted and major changes in the law would be announced via draft amendments to the Act in about a month’s time. “The law will be in tune with the best in the world. Global practices are being included in the law,” the official added.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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