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Vanathi Srinivasan
 Like an umpire in a cricket match, Censor Board members play a vital role in deciding on screening a movie for public viewing in theatres.
To know more about the Censor Board and its activities, let us meet Vanathi Srinivasan, a lawyer by profession.
Q: When were you appointed and what is the role of the Censor Board?
The members of the Censor Board are appointed by the Government of India. The members are usually drawn from different walks of life like law, medicine, etc. I was appointed in February 2004 as a woman member.
 There are some rules and regulations for the Censor Board which is headed by a chairman and advisory committees under him. We are not a 24-hour employee of the Union government, but we are treated as government employees when on duty. There is no monthly remuneration for us. We are paid Rs 500 for each film that we censor.
Q: How many members are there in the board and how many members should censor a movie?
There are totally 23 members in the regional censor boards, inclusive of eight women members. Four advisory panel members and a regional censor officer would censor a movie. It is mandatory that two women members should censor a movie. At the initial screening, when a movie is rejected by the censor members or the producer does not agree for the cuts suggested by the members, then the producer can appeal to the 10-member review committee for a clearance certificate.
Q: What are the guidelines you follow for censoring a movie?
 The movies that persons above the age of 18 can see are given 'A' certificate. Movies that everybody can watch is given 'U' certificate. Some movies are given 'S' certificate for their speciality, but there are very few movies in this category.
Some movies are censored here and get rejected, but the producer takes the movie to some other state and gets the censor certificate. Can't we stop this? Given the situation that all parts of India have the same culture, one movie cannot be considered not fit for screening in one state but cleared elsewhere!
If we reject a song, the producer immediately appeals to the review committee. They permit the song with minimal cuts. In such cases, we cannot do anything. We cannot say there is only one culture for the whole of India. The dress and many other aspects differ from state to state. Keralite women dress in a different way from Tamil women, so you cannot say that we would not screen Malayalam movies. The Censor Board can give cuts depending on the culture of the state.
Q: Do dubbed pictures come under the purview of the state Censor Board?
 Sure it must! Even an advertisement to be screened in a theatre should be censored. This is my view. Rules state that a movie can be censored at the place where the first print has been made, where the shooting has been shot. When it is dubbed into another language, it has to be censored again by the censor authorities of that state.
Many Tamil producers censor their movies in Chennai itself, but some producers, when they shoot their movie in two or three languages, take it to some other state. Even in that case, censor advisory panel members who know that language only view the movie.
Q: How many movies have you censored?
I have censored nearly 30 to 35 movies.
Q: Is it correct to say that teleserials should also be censored?
There is no censorship for private satellite channels. I am not satisfied with this, because movies reach a small section of people and yet we censor them. But TV reaches a wide range of audience, so we should have censor for that also.
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