Censor Board Staff shortage hits industry hard

Tamil film
Filmmakers in Kollywood are facing a different kind of release issue today. Some of them have announced their release dates but are not sure if their films can release on that day. The reason — they are waiting for the films to be censored. And, the regional censor board is short on staff!

Apparently, 12 films (both big-budget and small-budget ones) are waiting now to be censored. These include Velai Illa Pattadhari (which is expected to get censored today) and Sarabham, which are scheduled to release this month. Karthi’s Madras, which is tentatively scheduled to release by the month-end, is also yet to be censored.

Says V Packirisamy, regional officer of the censor board, “The government had recently decided that whoever has completed two years should not continue as a member. So, we do not have enough members. We presently have only seven members and it is difficult to censor films with few members.”

The government appoints the members of the censor committee, selecting eminent personalities from various fields. Every censor committee must have four members (two women and two men) and a regional officer present for a screening.

“Out of the present seven, only two are ladies and it is not possible to have them for every screening. So, we are able to censor only one film a day. We have around 10 outstation members but if we call them, we should pay for their travel, which the government has not provisioned for,” he explains and adds, “The government is aware of this problem and is taking steps to ensure that it appoints new members.”

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