Indian Government Reconstitutes Central Board of Film Certification

The Centre on Wednesday reconstituted the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), bringing actors Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty and Prosenjit Chatterjee, filmmaker Priyadarshan and Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej, among others, onto the 18-member panel.

The new board, headed by CBFC chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati, has been constituted with immediate effect for three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

The CBFC was last reconstituted in August 2017 for a three-year term. Members of that board continued beyond 2020 in the absence of a fresh reconstitution, under provisions allowing them to remain in office until their successors are appointed.

The new panel also includes film critic Vinod Anupam, actor Manoj Joshi, filmmaker Abhishek Jain, singer and former parliamentarian Hans Raj Hans, producer Supriya Yarlagadda, poet and writer Yatindra Mishra and actor Roopali Ganguly.

Theatre director Waman Kendre and writer Ramesh Patange are the only two members of the previous board to have been retained in the newly constituted panel.

The outgoing board included actor Vidya Balan, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, former footballer Mihir Bhutia, actor Gautami Tadimalla, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, actor Jeevitha Rajasekhar, filmmaker T S Nagabharana and filmmaker Naresh Chandra Lal, besides Kendre and Patange.

Pallavi Joshi is Agnihotri's wife. She was among the producers and cast members of The Kashmir Files directed by Agnihotri. On the other hand, Ganguly had formally joined the BJP in 2024.