Panaji, His tenure as the CBFC chief has been a relatively non-controversial one and Prasoon Joshi on Thursday said as a creative individual himself, he has tried to deal with issues through conversation, not controversy.
Joshi, a well-known lyricist, poet, and writer, was appointed the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2017.
In his tenure, the National Award winner, who is also an advertising professional, saw a major controversy in 2018 when Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmaavat” was accused of distorting historical facts by a section of Rajput groups.
Most recently, actor-filmmaker Kangana Ranaut alleged that the CBFC was stalling the certification of her film “Emergency”. After multiple delays, the movie will release on January 17.
Asked how has his tenure as CBFC head has been relatively non-controversial, Joshi said it was all about vantage point.
“I’m a creative person, so I never thought that I’ll get into regulation… No creative person would like it if they are asked to make changes to their work. It’s all about the vantage point.
“Life is a vantage point. If you’ll try to look at things from someone else’s point of view, then you’ll understand things,” he said during a session at the ongoing International Film Festival of India here.
Joshi, who is serving his third term as CBFC head, recalled that when he accepted the position at the Censor Board, he wanted it to be about “samvaad” , not “vivaad” .
“You have a conversation and you’ll understand the different points of view. We are trying to say something through creativity. The nature of the body is such that contentious things are possible. All I’ve tried is to use my experience in creating a dialogue,” he added.
Joshi, known for films such as “Taare Zameen Par”, “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, “Delhi-6”, and “Fanaa”, also likened the CBFC to a river.
“Imagine there’s a river. This river is a fact. Now you ask the one who’s swimming against the tide of this river that how is the river? He or she might say the river is aggressive.
“But you ask someone who’s standing on the river bank, they’ll say it is quiet, beautiful. It’s meditative. The same reality seems different from different vantage points. The river hasn’t changed, the vantage point has,” he said.
IFFI will come to a close on November 28.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
