‘Mersal’, ‘Padmavathi’ controversies – Massive changes in Censor Board

The Central Board of Film Certification or just simply Censor Board has been much in the news over the past year with the former chief Pahlaj Nihalini alleged to have been whimsical and acting as the cultural arbiter of India’s movie goers.  Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus  ’Padmavati’ could not meet its December 1st deadline as the censor application was returned citing technical difficulties. 

Back home Thalapathy Vijay’s ‘Mersal’ directed by Atlee too faced high drama with not only cuts demanded but also censor certificates delayed which hurt the Telugu version badly.  The good news is that there has been a complete revamp in the CBFC across India for the first time in history.

Mathiyazhagan the former Chennai chief has been removed and Leela Meenakshi has been appointed in his place.  Similarly all the other six chiefs have been changed in the other regions as well.  Hope this measure brings in more transparency and a clean certification process.