A government-appointed committee that was established to revamp the Central Board of Film Certification submitted its report to Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday. On January 1, the Centre had set up the committee, headed by filmmaker Shyam Benegal (pictured above), to revamp the board. The panel includes filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, actor Kamal Haasan, ad guru Piyush Pandey and film journalist Bhawana Somaaya.

Jaitley had said it was time to re-examine the functioning of the censor board, currently headed by producer Pahlaj Nihalani, and that he wanted the body to be controversy-free. Benegal had said: “I am supposed to be part of a committee to look into the problems related to film certification...My views on censorship are very clear – I am against the scissors. I don’t know anything about the agenda or the scope of the committee yet.”

The committee was asked to examine best practices around the world, especially where the film industry is given adequate space for expressing creatively and aesthetically, reported PTI.