‘Vishwaroopam’ row: Centre forms Committee to review Cinema Act

New Delhi: In the wake of row over Kamal Hasan`s movie ‘Vishwaroopam’, the Centre Monday set up a judicial committee to have a relook at the Cinematograph Act to make it more robust and ensure that movies do not get stuck after clearances by the film certification board. The 8-member Committee, headed by retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Mukul Mudgal, also includes film star Sharmila Tagore and noted poet and MP Javed Akhtar. The committee was set up by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry against the backdrop of Vishwaroopam being banned by the J Jayalalithaa-led Tamil Nadu government despite the Censor Board`s clearance. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari had last week said that the Act needed to be revisited to remove uncertainty with regard to a movie even after it has been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification. Tewari had said that the Committee will look into whether there is a need to make the "statutory architecture or the regulatory framework" of the Act more "robust" to ensure that the CBFC decision is implemented by the states. As per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the Centre has powers to certify a film to be either fit or unfit for exhibition. "The Central government exercises those powers through the Central Board of Film Certification. Once CBFC comes to a certain conclusion, then it is expected that the state governments would implement that decision as this exclusively falls under the Centre`s jurisdiction," he had said. PTI