THE censor board has ordered the length of two kissing sequences in Spectre, a new James Bond film, to be shortened by half. It is apparently according to archaic obscenity codes. There was a protest against kissing in Indian films during the freedom movement as it was erroneously argued that it was against Indian tradition and borrowed from the west. The GD Khoshla Commission eradicated the ban. If kissing is allowed, one boggles at the fact that its length can be put to the censor’s scissors. The censor board continues to frown upon intimate scenes in films even though there has been sharp criticism against it for some time. Indian film-makers are accordingly constrained to show that through ridiculous imagery. The board has disproportionate powers to judge what adult citizens should be allowed to see. A handful of independent film-makers do circumvent the restriction. But the board’s tendency to repeatedly strangle artistic freedom often leads to mangling of works of art. The governments at the Centre betray their own ideological inhibitions. Their interference causes a variety of paternalism.
The audience has to surrender to supposedly moral principles. Democratic values are naturally severely mauled in such an ambience. An informal institution to appraise the quality of creative effort should be perfectly in order. But the Indian situation is far removed from it. Here the censor board is packed with yes men who toe the line of the party in power. The state should ideally promote a culture which encourages citizens to exercise self- censorship. Freedom to make, know and judge should enable citizens to develop the necessary critical faculty. But then the censor board itself has to be disciplined and prepared to inculcate proper artistic values in citizens.