BHOPAL: The job of the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) is to certify films for public screening and not to censor sexually explicit or violent content, says film director and writer Vivek Agnihotri.
Only the audience can censor films by deciding what they want to see and what they don’t want to see, says Agnihotri, who is also a member of the CBFC.
He was talking with media persons at a press conference at a local hotel on Tuesday to announce the fourth edition of the “Chitra Bharati National Short Film Festival” in Bhopal from February 18-22, 2022.
Agnihotri says that presently there is a disconnect between Bollywood films and Indian culture. The films being produced these days are ‘for the elites, by the elites and of the elites’. The common man, the villages and the small towns are missing from Bollywood films. They have been replaced by NRIs and super-rich actors living in foreign nations.
He said that this trend had begun post-liberalisation. “Nowadays, the worldview of children is not shaped by grandmother stories. It is shaped by what they see on TV and on social media. We need to make films which help children learn about their culture and their country,” he said.
He says that Hollywood has become a soft power and it is laying down the dominant narrative. “This needs to change,” he said.
The Tashkent Files famed Agnihotri says that he is not afraid of trolls. “Those who abuse you on social media are not humans. They are bots. There is no need to worry about them,” he says.
Festival on MCNJCU’s new premises
The fourth Chitra Bharati National Short Film Festival, 2022 (CBFF0-2022) will be organised on the new premises of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National Journalism and Communication University (MCNJC) at Bishan Khedi from February 18-20, 2022. The three-day fest will be organised by the Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna, an organisation working for promoting 'Indian thought' in the film industry. A committee has been formed for the organisation of the fest. Industrialist Dileep Suryavanshi is the president and Amitabh Soni the secretary of the body. The first CBFF was organised at Indore in 2016 followed by the second in Delhi in 2018 and the third in Gujarat in 2020.
BOX-II
The festival has invited entries of films based on the following ten themes from September 1 to November 30 2021
· Indian Independence Struggle
· 75 years of independent India
· Unlockdown
· Vocal for Local
· Happy Village, Prosperous Country
· Indian Culture and Values
· Innovation –Creative Work
· Family
· Environment and Energy
· Education and Skill Development
