New Delhi: The Censor Board has asked the Government for an 'A+' or 'X' rating for films to avoid any censorship of movies meant for the adult audience due to explicit language or scenes, its Chairperson Sharmila Tagore said.
However, Tagore said she did not agree with her predecessor Vijay Anand's proposal of permitting pornographic films in the country.
"There are more and more adult subjects with explicit language or explicit scenes. Yes, I feel there should be a category for such films so that instead of cutting it, censoring it or deleting a few scenes we can show it in its entirety," Tagore told Karan Thapar during CNN-IBN’s 'Devil's Advocate'.
Tagore said while the Board under her had no qualms about clearing kissing scenes, she would not endorse her predecessor Vijay Anand's proposal to permit pornographic films.
"No. I wouldn't endorse that. I don't think society or the Indian people are ready for it. There's a cultural difference between India and the rest of the world," the acclaimed actress-turned-Censor Board chief said.
She said she was opposed to the blanket ban on showing adult films on television and said there should be a specified time slot for telecasting such movies on the small screen.
"Nowhere in the world does this (the ban) happen. There's a time for adult films... a specified time is necessary for adult viewing... that would be a practical and reasonable solution," she said.
Tagore said the Board was planning to go back to the I&B Ministry and ask it for a review of the decision to ban adult movies on TV.
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She said the films could be safely shown between 2300 hrs IST and 1600 hrs IST and also revealed that the I&B Ministry was thinking of creating an adult viewing time zone on TV.
However, Tagore said adult material could not be shown to children, citing her son Saif Ali Khan's latest film Omkara as an example.
Tagore was very critical about I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi's decision to personally watch The Da Vinci Code before its release even though the Censor Board had already cleared it.
She said she was concerned as it could set "a very bad precedent" and she would have stopped the Minister from doing so had she been able to. However, she said the matter has been sorted out between her and Dasmunsi.
"I don't think it's going to have a very long lasting effect. I've discussed it with the Minister and the Ministry and I've made my position very clear... in the long run, for the healthy functioning of the CBFC vis-a-vis the Ministry and vis-a-vis the film industry, it's not a very good thing," she said.
Tagore also defended her decision to refer Rang De Basanti to the Air Force before clearing the film, saying her objective was to clear the movie and how she did was simply a matter of strategy.
"I've seen a film is released and then it runs into problems like Rising did. Somebody brings a PIL, somebody brings a protest and the film is withdrawn from the theatres.
That cause a producer far more anxiety and problems because the film then doesn't pick up," she said.
(Watch the full interview with Sharmila Tagore on Devil's Advocate on Sunday, September 10, 2030 hrs (IST) only on CNN-IBN. The transcript will be available on ibnlive.com)
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