Centre names an 18-member CBFC board, Vempati stays chair

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reconstituted the Central Board of Film Certification on 16 September. An 18-member board takes effect immediately for three years or until further orders. Shashi Shekhar Vempati remains chairperson. The legal base is section 3(1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, read with Rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024.

The named members are Vinod Anupam, Manoj Joshi, Abhishek Jain, Ricky Kej, Priyadarshan, Suniel Shetty, Hansraj Hans, Supriya Yarlagadda, Yatindra Mishra, Rupali Ganguly, Preity Zinta, Neela Madhab Panda, Pankaj Tripathi, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Pallavi Joshi, Nishigandha Wad, Waman Kendre and Ramesh Patange.

Five of the 18 are women. Waman Kendre and Ramesh Patange are the only two names carried over from the outgoing board. That board was constituted in August 2017 for a three-year term and then ran on extensions. A nine-year gap between full reconstitutions is the administrative fact behind this week's list.

What the board actually does

CBFC certificates films for public exhibition in India. Examining officers and committee members watch prints, argue over cuts and issue U, U/A, A or S certificates. The chairperson is the public face. The 18 members are the statutory board. They do not personally see every title. They set the tone that examining committees follow when a scene is disputed.

Putting working actors and a director on that list is a choice. Zinta, Shetty, Tripathi, Chatterjee, Joshi, Ganguly and Priyadarshan have all had films in front of this office. Ricky Kej is a composer with a Grammy. Neela Madhab Panda directs. Supriya Yarlagadda produces. Hansraj Hans sings. The mix is Hindi-heavy with Bengali and south Indian names and two holdovers who know the file.

Producers have spent years complaining that certification is slow and unpredictable. A new board does not rewrite the Act. It can change how often a committee asks for a cut and how often the chair is pulled into a political row. Vempati staying in the chair is the continuity line. The 16 new names are the change.

The 2017 problem

A board that was due to turn over in 2020 and instead sat until 2026 is a sign that appointments were not a priority. Reconstituting it in the same week as a Phalke announcement and a National Film Awards date in Kevadia packs cinema administration into a short window. That may be coincidence. It may be a ministry clearing a backlog.

Certification fights in the next three years will be about streaming-to-theatre titles, political biopics and the 2024 rules. The people who will be quoted when those fights start are now on a gazette list. Whether they attend meetings and vote, or only lend their names, will be visible in the attendance records the board is supposed to keep.

For filmmakers the useful question is narrower. Does a committee with Tripathi and Priyadarshan in the statutory pool pass a scene that last year's extended board would have marked. The first contested certificate after 16 September will answer that more clearly than the press release.