Leela Samson Resigns from the CBFC

Thirteen years after the controversy over Vijay Anand’s recommendation for an “XA” certificate, renowned Bharatnatyam dancer Leela Samson also resigned as Chairperson of the CBFC in 2015. This followed a conflict over the film MSG: The messenger of god, directed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Jeetu Arora. Singh has since 1990 been the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, a social organisation estimated to have thirty to fifty million followers. In addition to acting he has extended his celebrity status through six religious rock albums published through Universal Music. He is widely known for his charity work, and for the lengthy court proceedings in which he is charged with murder and rape. In MSG Singh plays a spiritual leader seeking to eradicate “social evils”, such as drug use, alcohol, prostitution, and corruption. Widely conceived as a propaganda piece for Singh, MSG was critically panned.

The CBFC rejected certification of MSG through both its examining and revising committees. It was adjudicated that the film could cause religious offence through the depiction of Singh as a god. Various Sikh groups had called for the film to be banned. Following the appeal of the filmmakers, the revising committee referred MSG to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT). FCAT cleared MSG, requesting minor changes and awarding an “A” certificate. This occurred within a week, significantly faster than the usual length of the FCAT process. Samson denied that her resignation was linked to the certification by FCAT of MSG. Instead, she cited:
“Interference, coercion and corruption of panel members and officers of the organisation appointed by the ministry and having to manage an organisation whose board has not met for over nine months as the ministry has ‘no funds’ to permit the meeting of members” (in IANS 2015)

Following Samson’s resignation, nine CBFC board members – Arundhati Nag, Ira Bhaskar, Lora Prabhu, Pankaj Sharma, Rajeev Masand, Sekharbabu Kancherla, Shaji Karun, Shubhra Gupta and T G Thyagarajan – also departed. Their joint resignation letter outlined that their attempts to reform the CBFC had been ignored by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and that the integrity of the appeals board is compromised by government appointments. Samson’s own tenure as the CBFC Chairperson had been controversial, accused by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and others of passing films that caused offense to Hindus, such as the sci-fi comedy PK (2014). The decision to refuse classification of MSG was thus framed by such protesters as exemplifying a double standard. – Liam Grealy

Further reading:
– IANS. (17 January 2015). Samson quits as CBFC chief, “MSG” reading for release. The Times of India.
– NDTV. (17 January 2015). 9 censor board members resign a day after chief Leela Samson. NDTV.