New CBFC Board: From Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Hansraj Hans and others; who are the members here's full list
The Union government has reconstituted the CBFC with an 18-member board, including Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Pallavi Joshi and Rupali Ganguly. Here's the full list of all the members.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has a new 18-member board after the Union government reconstituted the film certification body, bringing popular names such as Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Pallavi Joshi and Rupali Ganguly into the panel. The new CBFC board has been appointed for three years and will oversee the certification of films for public exhibition in India.
The new panel includes popular actors Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Pallavi Joshi, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rupali Ganguly and Manoj Joshi. Filmmaker Priyadarshan, music composer Ricky Kej and several writers, critics and theatre personalities are also part of the board.
What Is the CBFC?The CBFC is a statutory body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Its main job is to examine films before they are publicly shown in India and issue the required certification. The board does not make films or decide how successful a movie will be. Its role is related to film certification and deciding the category under which a film can be publicly exhibited, according to the rules in force.
Under the existing legal framework, the CBFC consists of a chairperson and between 12 and 25 non-official members appointed by the Central Government.
Who Are the New Members?The new panel brings together people from different areas of the entertainment and cultural world.
Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi and Suniel Shetty are among the prominent Hindi film actors on the board. Bengali cinema is represented by Prosenjit Chatterjee, while television actor Rupali Ganguly is also part of the panel.
Pallavi Joshi, who has worked as an actor and producer, has also been appointed. Her husband and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri was a member of the previous CBFC board. Joshi was also associated with The Kashmir Files as a producer and actor.
Filmmaker Priyadarshan, known for work across Malayalam and Hindi cinema, is another prominent name. Nila Madhab Panda and Abhishek Jain bring filmmaking experience from different regional industries.
The panel also includes Manoj Joshi, Nishigandha Wad, Supriya Yarlagadda, Vinod Anupam, Yatindra Mishra, Waman Kendre, Ramesh Patange, Hansraj Hans and Ricky Kej. Their backgrounds range from acting and filmmaking to music, literature, theatre and film criticism.
Two Members Retained From Previous BoardWhile most of the panel is new, theatre director Waman Kendre and writer Ramesh Patange have been retained from the previous board. The earlier CBFC panel was constituted in August 2017 for a three-year term. However, it continued beyond 2020 as the government did not constitute a new board at that time. The latest reconstitution therefore marks the first major change in the board in several years.
Three-Year TermThe newly constituted CBFC board will remain in place for three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. The appointments have been made under the relevant provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, along with the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. With actors, filmmakers, musicians, writers, critics and theatre professionals coming together, the new panel brings experience from several parts of India's diverse entertainment industry.