Shyam Benegal to revamp censor board

New Delhi: In a move which could clip the wings of controversial Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani, the government on Friday formed a panel headed by veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal to suggest ways to revamp the board.

The committee, which will submit its report in two months to the information & broadcasting (I&B) ministry, includes filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, adman Piyush Pandey and film journalist Bhawana Somaaya.

Apart from these, National Film Development Council (NFDC) managing director Nina Lath Gupta and joint secretary (films) in the ministry Sanjay Murthy would also be part of the committee.

Friday’s announcement came within days of I&B minister Arun Jaitley indicating that the “time has come” to have a re-look at the functioning of the censor board as he would like the board to be “controversy-free”.