To Show Or Not To Show

I do not believe in creative censorship as a practice. India has a multitude of draconian laws still being exercised by vested interests. Be it out of fear or conformity or the assertion of a dictatorial stance for some reason,these laws are repeatedly enforced. If one were to look at art,cinema and music,whenever there has been an outcry against a particular work,it has always been a myopic individual or a subversive collective agenda.

There should be a committee that reviews all creative content only to allow the people to know the context it should be viewed in. But not at the cost of the created work. Blacking out channels such as FTV or Comedy Central or censoring films before screening on television is not justified. To suddenly have a knee-jerk reaction to a grouse without purpose and with a double standard,is absurd. The Kamasutra and all its varied illustrated editions (print and multimedia) are available across the country,across all strata of society,including children. So how blatant is this moralistic cultural hypocrisy? I believe that people in India have never been given a choice. If,in the future every single channel on TV is available at a price and one pays for what one wants to watch then censorship should not exist because the target audience is paying for what they want. In a DAS (Digital Addressable System) scenario,if one is subscribing to,let’s say,the Playboy channel,then one will not pay for it if the content is censored. However,if the government knows that subscription to such a channel comes with a security system that enables subscribers to lock it from non-target audience viewership,then yes again. For a tiny group of people to decide what the 21st century Indian can or cannot watch is a huge fallacy for democracy.

Ajay Bhalwankar

Head of Content,Hindi GECs,ZEE TV

Television networks have internal guidelines,a list of rules and regulations to be followed. What should be aired and what should not is,at many levels,decided internally. For instance,at Zee,we refrain from showing violence against women or make castiest remarks,show sleaze,rape,communally coloured content and exploitative reality programming. Like the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,more than the content at hand,we are more interested in the impact it will create.

One also has to understand Indian shows are completely different in narrative and treatment from Western shows. This is where the trouble brews. An Indian owned channel has to be more rooted and closer to the society it represents. Zee’s shows too have shown consummation scenes or the first kiss on Sapnay Suhane Ladakpan Ke. These were shown naturally,mindful of the realities and sensibilities of Indian society and that’s what the Ministry of I&B aims at too. No one will cut or censor something sensible. The I&B Ministry is chaired by humans too. Its establishment is justified as it’s a formal platform created by the people from the industry.

In the same breath,I’d like to say that Indian audiences are evolved. I’ve never been worried about censorship. What I am careful about is the impact on the audience. Zee has had bold content in the form of Tara,Banegi Apni Baat and Hasratein,and these serials dealt with everything,still they were appreciated because of the way they were packaged. It’s not about playing safe,but smart and sensible.

— Debate conducted by Jaskiran Kapoor