Social activist Teena Sharma has filed a PIL demanding a CBI inquiry into the functioning of the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Teena alleges that the Censors are working hand-in-glove with filmmakers, allowing doublemeaning dialogues, foul language and sex scenes to be exhibited in films.
Teena filed the PIL in Delhi High Court on July 27 and her lawyer Vivek Narayan Sharma will represent her in the legal hearing, which he says, "is scheduled for August 7".
Explaining the origins of her campaign Teena told Mirror, "It all began with Abbas Mustan's Race 2, which released on January 25 this year. I was flabbergasted to see Ameesha and Anil Kapoor talking about breasts."
Other movies which have irked her include the sex comedy, Boyss Toh Boyss Hain, the teen thriller Sixteen and the rom-com Rabba Main Kya Karoon.
"I demand a thorough explanation about how these movies are fit for public viewing under 'U/A' or 'A' certificates, as it is in clear violation of the Cinematograph Act 1952, The Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1956 and The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986,"she said.
Teena alleges that there is a clear nexus between the Censor Board and filmmaker and cites the example of the action thriller D-Day which had a sex scene between Arjun Rampal and Shruti Hassan.
"The film D-Day was recently awarded U/A certificate by the Censor Board. One of the members of the Censor Board, Kanika Dang also has a role in the film, she plays Dawood's wife. A copy of the certificate provided to the film bears Ms Dang's name. Isn't that conflict of interest?" says the activist.
Her cause has not found many backers in Bollywood with Javed Akhtar recently telling her during a meeting that her viewpoints are archaic.
"Javed Akhtar told me that I am living in the 80s. When I broached the subject of long lip locks in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, he told me that he would make all the kissing scenes go with a U certificate . And Javed saab is one of the prominent members in the Retd Justice Mukul Mudgal committee which was formed to look into the functioning of the CBFC," she added.
While CBFC CEO Pankaja Thakur remained unavailable for comment at the time of going to press, Censor Board Chief Leela Samson replied saying, "I have no idea about this, I'll have to check."
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