Podcasts about censor board

Credits Banner: Usha Kiron Movies Cast: Akash, Renuka Menon, JD Chakravarthy, Preethi Jinganiya, Sunil, Devan, Sivaji Raja, Hema, Rajya Laxmi, Sumalatha, Venu Madhav, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, MS Narayana, Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao, Sudhakar, Jayaprakash Reddy, Sumithra, Bharath, Zeeba, Sudeepa, AVS, Gowtam Raju. Music: Koti Dialogues: Diwakar Babu Cinematography: Ajay Vincent Story - Screenplay - Direction: Seenu Vytla Producer: Ramoji Rao Release date: 6th February 2004 Writing/Direction:  To be honest its quite hard to describe this story in one sentence. An orphan who works at an NGO falls in love with an aspiring painter who has a huge joint family.  Two conflict points in the movie is Akash mistaken identity and then JD CHakravathy conflict with the family. And nether of them work because neither are convincing enough or strong enough to run the entire movie.  Also clear to see that comedy inspiration would become two full length tracks in the future: Painting thread with G=Bhuvana in King was expanded and then train scenes with Akash, Venu Madhav and Gotham Raju were used in Venku right after this  What does work are the separate comedy tracks which are brilliantly done and Sreenu Vaitla was comic genius. First track is between Venu Madhav, Kondavalasa, MS Naryanaa, Sudhakar, Dharmavarupu  1st thing: Venu Madhav tells Kondavalasa to have happy hour at 7 PM to get max profits but within 30 mins he runs out of alcohol and the people beat him up. One guy cheated  2nd: MS Narayana is screening Manmadhudu byt Venu Madhav tells him to screen Shakeela movie during happy hours and put English movie bits as well. He screens the movie and then Censor Board members come and he tells him to watch it and he gets his theater seized  3rd: He tells  Sudhakar to go to pakka ooru Rajahmudnry club and play there. That night a police played by JP Reddy comes and tries to arrest him. He forgot his keys and then steals the Police's motorcycle itself  4th: NGO track with higher officer he gives his suit to Dharamvarupu and he books Dharmavarupu. All of these are very funny.  Dharmavarupu dialogue delivery was actually quite annoying and brought irritation.  2nd track is between Sivaji Raja and Bharath. Highlight. Sivaji Raja always roasts him are chetulu lo cinema actors chopistava, Hyderabad lo Taj Mahal vundi ante and then the classic monologue: title Pepepa anti  Ananganaga oka pedha kutumbam, aa kutumbam lo thanri chala pedhavadu thalli kuda pedhade valla pillalu Thota malli vontavadu, aakiriki car driver kuda pedhavade, papam vaalu tinnadaniki chicken biryani kuda doraka, alkali tho AC car tho velthundaga  Orey!  pandi yedava 20 mandi panollu AC car lo vunnolu pedhola, idi rayadaniki school yega dobbuthava.  And then to escape from JP Reddy 2nd time with his wife on his cycle, he comes to store on his bicycle and he finds Sudhakar and he to escape he puts on Enugu costume and then he steals JP reddy's cycle.  The comedy is really good. But main negative is The main story lacks emotion and it's not convincing. Preeti character is like a pysco and she acts very weird.  Also some scenes are so weirdly done, she calls her dad and she's like Nanna nenu chahipithujna Amma Mahi! And the flashback is not convincing at all. Not enough conflict for there to be a family conflict at all.  And then JD Chakravarthy comes back and everyone is so casual about it Mahi chanipoyindi andi antaru. It was such comedy. So in the end except for some comedy scenes, there's noting in the movie.  Direction by Sreenu Vaitla is ok. Comedy is excellent but main story, emotions, and everything else is not so good. 

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is set to reprise his role from the hit comedy OMG for its sequel Oh My God 2. The film is scheduled to release on 11th August, however, the CBFC is yet to clear the film or its trailer for release. According to reports, the censor board believes that the film contains content that could potentially hurt religious sentiments. The trailer was initially planned to release alongside the premiere of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, however, those plans are currently on hold.

OMG 2 vs Censor Board | Bad Language and Sex Education | एक और आदिपुरुष जैसी मूवी?

Credits Banner: RR Movie Makers Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kajal Agarwal, Prakash Raj, Sayaji Shinde, Dharmavarupu. Nassar, Raza Murad, Brahmaji, Master Akash, Bharat Reddy, Bandla Ganesh Music: Thaman Cinematography: Sam K Naidu Art Direction: Chinna Editing: SR Shekar Action: Vijay Lyrics: Bhaskarbhatla Story - screenplay - dialogues - direction: Puri Jagan Producer: Dr. Venkat Release date: January 13th, 2012 Saw it in theaters for Sankranthi, it was Housefull, interestingly the one Mahesh Babu movie to not make $1 mil in USA probably due to the content it only made $831,895.00, I remember those were the days because Dookudu had just come out and became a blockbuster and Mahesh babu fans were already hype because Businessman was filming and confirmed for Sankranthi 2012, just 3 months after. Teaser came out, Ila round up chesi confuse cheyyadu, confusion lu ekkuva kottesthanu, hype was at the max. Then trailer came out and increased expectation. I personally loved the movie but it has a few flaws which I'll explain later. Interesting Facts RGV signed Suriya for the movie titled The Businessman after Raktha Charithra directed by Puri Jagan but due to dates clash with 7th sense which was filming at the same time Puri then took the same story to Mahesh Babu and Mahesh didn't even listen to the narration, he said yes on the spot. Then he read the script and in Jan 2011, the movie as announced Shruthi Hassan was the first choice for female lead and they did a look test but didn't like it so they went ahead with Kajal Aggarwal Due to MB characterization, Puri Jagan didn't want to cast Brahmi or Ali in the movie Movie was filmed in 74 working days. Filming started on September 2nd, 2011 and ended on December 10th, 2011. It is the fastest shot star hero Telugu movie in the last decade and record for a Mahesh babu movie Filming was done in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Spain, Goa, and Bangkok Back then there was huge controversy because it got A certificate with numerous visual blurs that most movies get a pass on. Censor Board was overly harsh with it Thaman was selected without Dookudu even being released only Nee Dookudu and Guruvaram were recorded at the time. He was sitting with Mahesh Babu in Sea Princess Hotel Mumbai, World Cup semifinal India vs Australia in 2011, during the match break called him and said you're doing Businessman as well. Remains first and only collaboration between Thaman and Puri Jagan. Thaman worked for all of 19 days for Businessman, songs and BGM. First Telugu movie to release in 1000 screens. Collected 42 crores share and was a hit at the box office.

India Policy Watch #1: What Do Successive Defence Budgets Reveal?Insights on burning policy issues in India— Pranay Kotasthane(An edited version of this article was published in Hindustan Times on 13th Feb)Another defence budget zoomed past us on Feb 1. Since then, analyses have focused on how the defence spending for the coming year departs from the last year. Some have waved a red flag as defence spending has fallen below 2 per cent of GDP for the first time in many years. On the other hand, the defence ministry's post-budget press release emphasised a 44 per cent increase in operational spending, which is expected to “close critical gaps in the combat capabilities and equip the Forces in terms of ammunition, sustenance of weapons & assets, military reserves etc.” The ministry also highlighted that the capital outlay for modernisation and infrastructure development has risen by a seemingly handsome 57 per cent over the last five years. How, then, do we make sense of these conflicting narratives?Comparing allocations with those in the previous year gives us a confusing picture. Every interest group can pull up a number from the budget to suit their pre-formed narrative. Taking a step back from these narratives, this article will show that this was another run-of-the-mill defence budget, just like the previous one was. Nothing in it indicates any significant change in the defence posture. Unlike Japan, which has announced a doubling of its military spending in the next five years, India's approach is about gradually improving the operational efficiency of the armed forces.Looking under the hoodThis article looks at the defence expenditure over the last six budgets to make sense of the numbers. To put numbers into context, let's use an earlier year (FY16). FY16 is a useful reference point as it predates two major developments: China's visibly aggressive posture on the border and the budgetary commitments arising from the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme. Three observations follow from such an analysis.One, not only has defence spending fallen as a proportion of GDP, but it has also fallen as a percentage of government expenditure. In other words, defence has slipped in priority relative to non-defence functions (Figure 1). Two, the China challenge hasn't led to any spectacular change in the composition of defence expenditure. Defence spending can be divided into four major components: salaries, pensions, capital outlay, and others. As Figure 2 shows, capital outlay was being squeezed by rising pension expenditure over the last few years. For two consecutive years (FY19 and FY20), more money was spent on pensions than on capital acquisition and modernisation. The balance has now been marginally restored since FY21, after the Galwan crisis flared up.Crucially, the rises in pension and capital expenditures have come at the cost of operational and maintenance expenditures, including ammunition stores (under the Others category). It is hence not surprising that the latest budget is trying to arrest this decline in combat capabilities.Three, this period has been relatively better for the Indian Navy in terms of capital expenditure. Since the procurement of new platforms happens over multiple years, a temporal view is useful in analysing how capital outlay is split between the three armed forces. Figure 3 suggests that the big change in the last four years is in the capital outlay for the Indian Navy, with the FY24 figure having doubled in absolute terms since FY20.The Big PictureBy connecting these dots over the last five years, the picture that emerges is this: the government seems confident that China can be handled without a substantial rise in defence expenditure. The latest budget serves as a bellwether indicator for this claim. It was the first budget of the post-pandemic period, at a time when the economic prospects for India had improved considerably. The government achieved better-than-expected buoyancy in income taxes and GST in the current financial year, while the cooling of global fertilizer prices has led to a decline in the projected subsidy bill. Consequently, the government, for the first time in many years, had some fiscal room to play with. It has used that space to increase the overall capital outlay to Rs 10 lakh crore, almost three times the outlay in 2019-20. Despite this increase in the overall capital outlay, the defence budget resembles the middle overs of a one-day cricket match.From a financial savings perspective, there have been just two important changes over this period in the defence domain. The first was the announcement of the Agnipath scheme. It might reduce the pension burden, but these savings will reflect only after a decade-and-a-half. Other proposals, such as theatre commands, haven't come to fruition yet. The proposal to create a non-lapsable fund for modernisation — a proposal the union government gave an in-principle agreement way back in Feb 2021, still hasn't found a mention in the latest budget.Probably, the defence budget is the wrong place to infer India's strategic posture against China. Perhaps, the government considers other tools of statecraft—diplomatic, economic, or non-conventional—more suitable for the purpose. This point needs deeper reflection. The discussions over the roles of these tools of statecraft currently operate under mistaken assumptions. Attempts at getting India into an anti-China alliance are spurned at the altar of “strategic autonomy”. The opponents seem to assume that India only needs to equip its armed forces with greater firepower. For too long, many parliamentary standing committees and defence organisations have gone hoarse trying to convince the government that defence expenditure should be raised to 3 per cent of GDP. If anything, the change is in the opposite direction.The defence budget trends are a reminder that the government does not prefer using the military instrument to outflank China. At best, it wants to equip the armed forces such that China's incursions can be matched or repulsed. Given that there's no significant increase in allocations for the Navy and the Air Force, it also means that the government is not considering an increased presence in the South China Sea. So, the military is being equipped to plug a vulnerability and not to gain an asymmetric political advantage over China. This line of thinking probably makes sense. There's no point in matching China's defence spending dollar-for-dollar. After all, the Indian armed forces are more adept at fighting at high altitudes. But this line of thinking should also make it apparent that India must develop capabilities in domains other than those involving force to inflict pain on China. The government should build a political consensus that closer relations with China's adversaries are not a matter of choice but an imperative. That we need to double down on economic growth and technological upgrading if we are to constrain China's hand in other domains. It also means that we shouldn't be indiscriminately banning China's investments in India; a better approach would be to make their companies in non-strategic domains more dependent on the Indian market. We will then have more tools in our kit to deploy if the situation on the border worsens. Each of these posture changes needs an updating of our priors and payoffs. For that to happen, it is necessary that the government comes clean about China's incursions. Pretending that all's well might give us false comfort, but they will also dissuade the strategic establishment from confronting the tough trade-offs in non-military domains. Without this pivot, we would merely rely on hope as a strategy. India Policy Watch #2: Through The Looking GlassInsights on burning policy issues in India— RSJWe talk about the arbitrary powers of the state on these pages often. Now, we cannot grudge the state's sovereignty because we have voluntarily handed it that power. One argument that follows from this is that such power is often prone to be used arbitrarily. And that's a problem for the citizens. The typical solution we have offered on these pages over time is to restrict the domain of the state to a narrow set where it can make the maximum impact or to design its incentives in a way that makes the state act with accountability. Now, these are good design principles. We could use them to create structures and institutions that are strong and independent that could hold their own against any arbitrary use of power. But are these enough? A natural question that should follow is how do we know things are working in practice like they were meant to? How do we get authentic information about how the state is conducting itself? How do we confirm that it is not subverting the institutional design that is in place to control its powers? These questions lead us to the other pillar of a well-functioning democracy - transparency. It is a topic we haven't discussed enough on these pages. Transparency is a moral good, and it is vital for a healthy democracy. Darkness stunts democracy. It needs light to thrive. In the early part of the 20th century, the US Supreme Court judge Louis Brandeis famously remarked, “sunlight is the best disinfectant” while making a case for a transparency imperative. Or, if we were to go further back, Bentham, often credited to have done the most original thinking on transparency, summed it up with - the more strictly we are watched, the better we behave - a principle he put at the heart of his advocacy for an open government. So, what has triggered my early morning ruminations on transparency? Well, there are two reasons. Here's one. The Indian Express reports:“The Supreme Court said it did not want to accept in a “sealed cover” the Centre's suggestions on who could be the members of a committee the court had proposed to assess the market regulatory framework and recommend measures, if any, to strengthen it in the wake of the Adani-Hindenburg affair. It refused to accept any suggestions on names from the petitioners as well.Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who headed a three-judge bench hearing a clutch of petitions on the Hindenburg Research report and its aftermath, told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the court wanted to maintain “full transparency”. The court would appoint a committee of its own that will promote a sense of confidence in the process, he said.”CJI Chandrachud said, “We would rather not accept the sealed cover suggestions from you for this reason; in constituting a committee which we want to do, we want to maintain full transparency. The moment we accept a set of suggestions from you in a sealed cover, it means the other side is not seeing them. Even if we don't accept your suggestions, they will not know which of your suggestions we have accepted and which we have not. Then there may be an impression that well, this is a government-appointed committee which the Supreme Court has accepted even if we have not accepted your suggestions. So, we want to maintain the fullest transparency in the interest of protecting the investors.”Bravo. The Chief Justice was almost channelling Bentham there, who famously wrote, “secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a regular government.” I mean, what even is a sealed cover in a matter that concerns millions of ordinary investors? Why should there be secrecy in the name of experts and their recommendations? A sealed cover is a strange invention. It gives the sheen of a fair and independent process to what is essentially a subversion of a democratic principle. It ranks up there among one of the great Indian coinages. The top spot, of course, is forever occupied by ‘mild lathicharge'. And now, onto the other reason for all this talk on transparency. This was the headline-grabbing news of this week in India - “Weeks after its documentary taken off, BBC gets I-T knock”. Here's the Indian Express reporting on this with many quotes from “unnamed government sources”:“The Income-Tax Department surveys at the premises of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday (February 14) were conducted in view of the BBC's “deliberate non-compliance with the transfer pricing rules” and its “vast diversion of profits”, government sources said.The surveys were looking into “manipulation of prices for unauthorized benefits, including tax advantages”, sources said.The BBC has been “persistently and deliberately violative of transfer pricing rules, it has “deliberately diverted a significant amount of the profits”, and has not followed the “arm's length arrangement” in the allocation of profit, the sources said.”A very garrulous source there with a lot of information. I don't want to ascribe motives to the tax raids yet. There's enough in the timing of these ‘surveys' to raise suspicions. The I-T department has been used to settle political and other scores for decades. It speaks poorly of our institutional strength and independence. But that's not the issue we are discussing today. The question is about transparency. Does anyone know why the surveys were carried out? The sources have cleverly given some reasons, but what stops the department from giving an official reason for them? Is it because it is likely that if they give the official reason, there will be further questions on the arbitrary nature of the actions? So, it is best to share nothing officially, selectively leak information to the media to paint the BBC in poor light and get away with harassment that then sends a message across to other foreign media outlets. Because even based on the merits of what the sources have said, it is difficult to justify a two-day survey. To quote the same news report:“Transfer pricing issues are very common for foreign companies but survey/search actions against them are not common. Assessment is usually opted for but is not the only route through which such cases can be approached. If tax officers want to do a survey/search, then transfer pricing issues can get covered.However, it is an approval-driven process with prior approvals required within the tax department before carrying out survey action. They would be having some information against the company and there might be a history of non-compliance too,” a Delhi-based tax expert said.  A notice preferably is issued to a company in an assessment exercise by the tax authorities flouting transfer pricing rules before undertaking any such action, experts said."It shouldn't surprise anyone that political actors don't like transparency. It adds to their burden of accountability and increases the political costs of any missteps, deliberate or otherwise. So, how should the citizens keep up the demand for transparency in a democratic setup? After all, for the citizens to be involved in the governance process, they must have access to the government's information, plans and intentions. Also, there is a line beyond which too much transparency could be counterproductive. Too much information, too early in the process, could mean stalling the plan as interest groups jump in and skew the decision-making process. I have outlined three frames that one could use to think about transparency in a democracy.First, it is in the long-term interest of political parties to seek transparency in a democratic setup. For those in the opposition, it is about making the incumbent party in power more accountable. For the incumbent, too, there's always the uncertainty about the future when they might not be in power. In such a scenario, it is better for them to have stronger laws on transparency for their own access to government information, which they can use to hold others accountable. A lack of certainty about future electoral prospects for any party is a feature of a good democracy. It is in this environment most transparency laws are made. In India, too, the RTI came about because of grassroots activism and a broad consensus among the political class led by the party in power then. However, it is important to note that the Overton window was right during that time when getting re-elected was an exception. It meant the political actors were keen to have access to information in future. In that sense, any period when transparency is suppressed in a democracy is a good surrogate for the power of the party in power. In India, the RTI laws allow for access to a significant amount of government information. The problem is that there is a gradual erosion of its ambit as the dominant political class comes to view it as an irritant. The only way to counter this is for the citizenry to continue using the RTI tool to its fullest extent. The more people know the tool's power, the harder it will be to blunt it. Second, it is important to devolve transparency to state and local governments. This is where the political uncertainty is still high in India, which means there's an incentive for political actors to support transparency moves to guarantee their own access to information in future. This is also the space where petty corruption is still rampant. One of the challenges of RTI in India is that most of the activism here is focused on big-ticket issues. The opportunity to bring sunlight as a disinfectant and its payoffs are the highest at the local level of governance. Separately, there are also specific areas in the private sector that could do with improved transparency. This is tricky territory, and let me be very specific about this. There's a significant amount of information that's collected, often without explicit consent, from the citizens by the private sector, which is then monetised in various ways. The mechanism by which their information is used and the extent to which the private sector, especially the social media platforms,  benefits from it are not transparent to the citizens who are the customers. If your attention is being monetised through multiple trackers and personalised ads, it is only fair you must know the rules of the game and agree to play it. This is still a white space of policymaking in India.   Lastly, the oft-cited risk of policy waters being muddied because of transparency, where various interest groups will lobby for their positions and slow down the decision-making process, is a bit misplaced. Those in favour of transparency do not argue for the innards of policymaking being put out for display. That process requires stakeholder mapping and seeking inputs in a way that's been documented by various policy thinkers. We have written about the eight-step process of policymaking on these pages on multiple occasions. The issue of transparency is important in two areas. First, the implementation and measurement of a policy proposal. How did a policy fare compared to its promise? Were the public resources and efforts prudently used? Was there a clear understanding of why something failed? Access to this information is important for the public and experts outside the government to hold the government accountable and improve future decisions. Second, the size of the state in India often means it is the biggest, often the sole, customer in multiple sectors and its decision on setting the rules of games in these sectors, awarding contracts and its performance in managing its budget should be available for public scrutiny. Again, this doesn't mean the government should vet its decisions at each stage with prevailing public opinion. Rather it must be able to explain its process and the rationale for decisions openly and transparently. The practice of sealed covers or I-T surveys and raids without a clear reason isn't new to India. What's new is the somewhat strange support for these actions by the mainstream media that are being fed by the ever-bizarre theories cooked by the partisans on social media. BBC isn't doing a documentary on Gujarat because China is now funding it. Nor is there a leftist cabal that's busy bringing Adani down one week and using BBC the next to show the government in a bad light. This playbook is reminiscent of the Indira era of the mid-70s, where in the name of national interest, we buried transparency and accountability. It took us decades to get out of that mire. Learning from history is free, but most of us fail the eventual test.PolicyWTF: Casually Banning Films Committee, RepriseThis section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?— Pranay Kotasthane Last week, I came across an excellent report by Aroon Deep in The Hindu that explains how the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) is going way beyond its usual stance of “demanding” cuts of scenes showing sexual content, violence, or abusive language. Instead, the CBFC now also has a perspective on dietary preferences (demanding that mention of “beef” be struck off), foreign policy (demanding that references to ex-KGB officers, China, and Pakistan be removed), and even corruption (how can a filmmaker dare depict a police officer accepting a bribe?). Seriously, what an omniscient body.Despite its activism, the Censor Board hasn't impressed the extremists. One Hindu group leader has called for creating a ‘Dharma Censor Board' “to review Bollywood films and keep a check on any anti-religious content or distortion of facts about Sanatan Dharma.” In his words:“Our experts will see a film when it is released and if we find it suitable for people belonging to Sanatan Dharma, we will issue a certificate. At present, films passed by the censor board set up by the government have been found carrying scenes that hurt the sentiments of people. We have repeatedly asked for a religious person to be included in the censor board but this demand has not been accepted. This is why we had to constitute our own board.”While it sounds absolutely absurd at face value, there is a liberal way out to assimilate this conservative critique. We covered it in edition #122, and I want to re-emphasise those points.In 2016, my former colleagues Madhav, Adhip, Shikha, Siddarth, Devika and Guru wrote an interesting paper in which they recommended that film certification should be privatised.Deploying the Banishing Bureaucracy framework, they wrote:The CBFC be renamed the Indian Movie Authority (IMA) and that the primary purpose of the IMA would be to license and regulate private organisations called Independent Certifying Authorities (ICAs) which will then certify films.So, the Hindu group can very well have its own ICA, which will rate the movie on its Sanatana Dharma compliance score. But…The certificate granted by ICA will only restrict what age groups the film is appropriate for. This is the only form of pre-censorship that is necessary in today's age as all other restrictions on film exhibition should be applied retrospectively. The choice of ICAs available for producers to approach will render the question of subjectivity moot as the producer can switch to another ICA if unsatisfied with the certificate. The IMA will set the guidelines for the ICAs to follow and will be the first point of appeal.In other words, this solution reimagines the CBFC as a body that grants licenses to independent and private certification organisations called ICAs. These ICAs must adhere to certain threshold criteria set by the CBFC. Beyond these criteria, some ICAs may specialise themselves as being the sanskaari ones trigger-happy to award an “A” certification, while others may adopt a more liberal approach. In the authors' words:This will allow the marketplace of ideas to draw the lines of what kind of content is fit for what kind of audience with the government still being capable of stepping in to curb prurient sensibilities.This solution has the added benefit of levelling the playing field between OTT content and films. Currently, the CBFC has no capacity to certify the content being churned out on tens of streaming services. By delegating this function to private ICAs, the government can ensure adherence to certification norms.In essence, just as governments can often plug market failures, markets too can sometimes plug government failures. Reforming our ‘Censor Board' requires giving markets a chance.There's much more detail in the paper about grievance redressal, certification guidelines, and appeals procedure. Read it here.HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters* [Podcast] Over at Puliyabaazi, we discuss technology geopolitics with Anirudh Suri, author of The Great Tech Game.* [Paper] Laxman Kumar Behera's take on the defence budget.* [Paper] This paper has a fantastic framework for understanding policy failures and successes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com

Alphabet's shareholders are concerned about Google.  In fact, even technology experts believe that Google's leadership style of its CEO, Sundar Pichai, are having a negative impact on the company. In other news, the Indian government has decided that anti-tobacco warnings and disclaimers aren't enough to deter smoking. And hence, new amendments proposed to film-making rules will require filmmakers to justify to the Censor Board why a particular scene with characters smoking is needed to tell the story.  Tune in to The Signal Daily to know more on both the stories!  You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android, iOS or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at https://ivmpodcasts.com/. Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts,  Amazon Prime Music.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Censor Board in India enjoys a wide remit of powers to not only certify films but also demand cuts and modifications in movies and even refuse certification. It has come under criticism for hampering freedom of expression, demanding unreasonable cuts in movies and infantalising audience choices.  In this episode, Pranay Kotasthane & Shrikrishna Upadhyaya discuss the structural problems with the Censor Board, should government be involved in film censorship and alternate models of film certification. Pranay speaks about a framework for privatising film certification in the country and divesting them to Independent Certifying Authorities, regulated by an independent Indian Movies Authority. Readings: Takshashila Policy Advisory - Privatising Film Certification: Towards a Modern Film Rating Regime Anticipating the Unintended: Casually Banning Films Committee The cuts of Central Board of Film Certification run deep - The Hindu You can follow Shrikrishna Upadhayaya on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shrikrishna5 You can follow Pranay Kotasthane on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pranaykotas  Check out Takshashila's courses: https://school.takshashila.org.in/ Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. https://twitter.com/IVMPodcasts https://www.instagram.com/ivmpodcasts/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/ivmpodcasts/ You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featured Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Gaana, Amazon Music Do share the word with your folks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please be warned we discuss buttocks in this episode! We do not want the censor board coming after us because the listeners weren't aware. Deepika's hard worked buttocks are going to be hidden and is that the world we want to live behind for our children!? Plus there are things happening in Alibaugh...is it just a normal getaway for Bollywood's finest or do we hear pheras happening? Well we don't know we don't that Alibaugh money.On a much more serious note we discuss Qala starring Tripti Dimri and Babil Khan. Anvita Dutt got wild acclaim in 2020 with her movie Bulbbul and she's done it again with Qala! The music, the aesthetic, the plot line...everything about this movie was exquisite and haunting.

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T G Mohandas I Censor Board should release film depicting Moplah massacre #ReleaseRamasimhanMovie #MoplahMassacre #HinduGenocide

Why is Indian cinema regulated by the Censor Board? And what are the archaic mores that regulate it? In this episode of The Longest Constitution we look at how the Censor Board sensibilities shaped the iconic film, Sholay and delve into the concept of parens patriae. We also continue tracking the journey of the Bhopal gas tragedy and the peculiar argument advanced by the Indian government that the USA would be better ground to try the case because of its more sophisticated tort law . And finally, we look at how Article 21 has expanded to reexamine substantive provisions of law. On the Censor Board: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-sholay-we-dont-know/Liang, Lawrence, 2016, “Free Speech and Expression”, in Choudhry, Sujit (et al), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, OUP: New Delhi. Chandrachud, Abhinav, 2017, Republic of Rhetoric: Free Speech and the Constitution of India, New Delhi: Viking. On the Bhopal gas tragedy: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/A-traffic-accident-in-Bhopal/article13582174.ecehttps://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/union-carbidedow-lawsuit-re-bhopal/#:~:text=In%201989%20the%20Indian%20Supreme,Bhopal%20victims%20and%20their%20survivors.https://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.htmlOn due process, Article 21 and the Sunil Batra case: Chandrachud, Abhibav, (2016), “Due Process”, in Choudhry, Sujit (et al), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, OUP: New Delhi. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/162242/If you have missed out on The Longest Constitution Season 1, check here: ( "The Longest Constitution with Priya Mirza")You can follow Priya on social media:Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/thelongestconstitution_/ )Twitter: ( fundamentallyp )Linkedin: ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/priya-mirza-73666310/ )You can listen to The Longest Constitution podcast on IVM Podcasts Network, Spotify, YouTube Music, Gaana, or wherever you get your podcasts from.Find other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: ‎IVM Podcasts, or on any other major podcast app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It took the world's worst industrial disaster, the gas leak on 3rd December 1984 Bhopal, for India to wake up to the fact that we did not have the laws to protect people from transnational criminal negligence. This is the first installment of the a three-part account of what followed the tragedy. We also look at the expansion of Article 21 in the famous Menaka Gandhi passport case as well as why we have a film Censor Board. On the Bhopal gas tragedy: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/environment/30-years-of-bhopal-gas-tragedy-a-continuing-disaster-47634Chouhan, T R (ed) (2004), Bhopal: The Inside Story, Apex Press: New Delhi. 3, On the right to fly: Mirza, Priya, (2021, ‘Lessons from India's Long Journey to gaining the right to fly', https://caravanmagazine.in/history/lessons-from-indias-long-journey-to-gain-the-right-to-fly 4. On due process:CHandrachud, Abhibav, (2016), “Due Process”, in Choudhry, Sujit (et al), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, OUP: New Delhi. If you have missed out on The Longest Constitution Season 1, check here: ( "The Longest Constitution with Priya Mirza")You can follow Priya on social media:Instagram(https://www.instagram.com/thelongestconstitution_/ )Twitter: ( fundamentallyp )Linkedin: ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/priya-mirza-73666310/ )You can listen to The Longest Constitution podcast on IVM Podcasts Network, Spotify, YouTube Music, Gaana, or wherever you get your podcasts from.Find other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: ‎IVM Podcasts, or on any other major podcast app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kenneth Wong, a Burmese language instructor at UC Berkeley, has spent a lifetime studying the history of Burmese films, and is one of the organizers of the Burma Spring Benefit Film Festival. He grew up in Yangon half a century ago and remembers the formulaic, romantic comedies that the Burmese movie industry churned out each year, escapist films that rarely touched on relevant social issues. There were also Bollywood movies and American blockbusters that attracted massively audiences. “I have a feeling that there were a lot of people who, if they had been given the chance to make films, they could have made really great films that were on par with foreign films, but they just weren't able to,” he remarks sadly. Everything changed with the democratic transition of the last decade, when films no longer had to pass the scrutiny of the all-powerful Censor Board. It was like a finger removed from the dike, an artistic explosion where artists could now express themselves without fear of punishment. While independent films started to take off in that more open artistic climate, Kenneth was especially impressed by the growth of locally made documentaries, which began to take on issues of social justice, ethnic minority rights, and LGBTQ issues. “Those are the sort of things that previously you couldn't even talk about openly in teashops,” he notes. And what about the stars who contributed their talents to that period of artistic blooming? While a handful have openly sided with the military and others have only attended a few rallies briefly in order to take selfies that promote their brands, others have made incredible sacrifices. Examples include Hta Hta Thet, a former beauty queen who has since joined a People's Defense Force team, or Paing Takhon, a movie star and model who was recently sentenced to three years for his activism.

Rajesh Kumar Singh, the noted film critic, reveals the cosy relationships among the film makers and the Censor Board members. Prasoon Joshi led Board rejected the socially important movie 'The Conversion', and refused to award it any certificate. He jins Sanjay Dixit to expose the games that are played in the Bollywood to promote certain types of films and to discourage Indic films.

In this episode,we discuss about the Indian Censor Board and CAB 2021. This bill surely intends to take away the Freedom of Expression in Cinema in India for the next generation if it is passed. This needs more attention. Stay AWAKE people!!!!

As filmmakers challenge highly controversial amendments to the Cinematograph Act, The Swaddle team discusses the history of the censor board in India, and whether we really need it.

As filmmakers challenge highly controversial amendments to the Cinematograph Act, The Swaddle team discusses the history of the censor board in India, and whether we really need it.

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by Ad-Auris.Global Policy Watch: A Mint With a Role- RSJThe People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has been trialling a form of digital Yuan for the past year. Last week the trials entered their second phase. (Umm, they seem to have more phases for this than for developing their Covid vaccines).The Wall Street Journal woke up to the digital Yuan (paywalled) last week with this article that starts off like a Marquez novel:“A thousand years ago, when money meant coins, China invented paper currency. Now the Chinese government is minting cash digitally, in a re-imagination of money that could shake a pillar of American power.” What’s not to like an article that begins with hyperbole? But there’s some grain of truth there. Before we go further we need to make sense of sovereign digital currencies or what’s now being called Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). What’s Money?Like we have written in an earlier post, money performs three roles for us: it is a store of value, it is a medium of exchange, and it is a unit of measure. Through it we save for the future, pay for goods and services and measure the value of very different things using a common unit. These roles mean anything that aspires to be a currency (the usable form of money) should have a relatively stable value over time and should be widely acknowledged as a store of value and unit of account among people. If it does so, the network effect takes over after a while and it becomes a widely used currency. Throughout history, a key feature of a sovereign state was its control over the supply and circulation of money that’s used within its boundaries. The royal mints, after all, have been around for more than two thousand years. As modern nation-states emerged through the 19th and 20th centuries and as global trade increased, central banks emerged to manage the monetary system and provide financial stability. There are three forms of money in any modern economy: Banknotes: These are physical paper currency notes issued by the central bank that we all use in our everyday lives. This is a direct promise by the central bank to pay the holder of the note a specified sum of money. This promise is printed on all currency notes.Bank Deposits: Ordinary people and businesses don’t hoard banknotes to conduct their business. They deposit their money in commercial banks. These deposits are stored in electronic form by these banks. The banks offer two services to their customers. They convert these deposits to central bank money in the form of banknotes when you demand it at an ATM and they offer to transfer your money to someone else through a payment system that exists between banks. Unlike banknotes, your deposits aren’t risk-free. They aren’t backed by any sovereign guarantee. A bank will be able to convert your money into banknotes only if it is solvent and it is able to honour its commitments. We have seen instances of a bank failing to do so in India (Yes Bank, PMC etc).Central Bank Reserves (“reserves”): Commercial banks have their own accounts with the central bank where they deposit their funds. These deposits are used by banks to pay each other to settle transactions between them. The reserves are the other form of central bank money apart from banknotes. These are risk-free and therefore used for settlements among commercial banks. Where does CBDC then fit in?Simply put, a CBDC is a digital form of a banknote issued by the central bank. Now you might think we already use a lot of digital money these days. Yes, there’s money we move electronically or digitally between banks, wallets or while using credit/debit cards in today’s world. But that’s only the digital transfer of money within the financial system. There’s no real money moving. The underlying asset is still the central bank money in the form of reserves that’s available in the accounts that commercial banks have with the central bank. This is what gets settled between the commercial banks after the transaction. This is an important distinction. We don’t move central bank money electronically. But CBDC would actually allow ordinary citizens to directly deal with central bank money. It will be an alternative to banknotes. And it will be digital. CBDC: The Time Is NowSo, why are central banks interested in CBDC now? There are multiple reasons. One, cryptocurrency that’s backed by some kind of a stable asset (also called ‘stablecoin’) can be a real threat as an alternative to a sovereign currency. Stablecoins are private money instruments that can be used for transactions like payments with greater efficiency and with better functionality. For instance, the current payment and settlement system for credit cards in most parts of the world has the merchant getting money in their bank accounts 2-3 days after the transaction is done at their shops. A digital currency can do it instantly. For a central bank, there could be no greater threat to its ability to manage the monetary system than a private currency that’s in circulation outside its control.Two, in most countries, there’s an overwhelming dependency on the electronic payment systems for all kinds of transactions. As more business shifts online and electronic payment becomes the default option, this is a serious vulnerability that’s open to hackers and the enemy states to exploit. A CBDC offers an alternative system that’s outside the payment and settlement network among commercial banks. It will improve the resilience of the payment system. Three, central banks need to offer a currency solution for the digital economy that matches any form of digital currency that could be offered by private players. Despite the digitisation of finance and the prevalence of digital wallets in the world today, there’s still significant ‘friction’ in financial transactions all around us. You pay your electricity bill electronically by receiving the bill, then opening an app and paying for it. Not directly from your electric meter in a programmed manner. That’s just an example of friction. There are many other innovations waiting to be unleashed with a digital currency. Central banks need to provide a platform for such innovations within an ecosystem that they control. CBDC offers that option.Lastly, digital money will reduce transmission loss both ways. Taxes can be deducted ‘at source’ because there will be traceability of all transactions done using CBDC. It will also allow central banks and the governments to bypass the commercial banks and deliver central bank money in a targeted fashion to citizens and households without any friction. The transmission of interest rates to citizens for which central banks depend on commercial banks could now be done directly. While these are the benefits of a digital currency, there are other massive macroeconomic consequences including the loss of relevance of bank deposits that we have with our banks. A CBDC that offers interest would mean we will have a direct deposit account with the central bank. This will mean a move away from deposits in banks to CBDC with the central bank. Also, the nature of a bank ‘run’ will change. Today a bank ‘run’ means a rapid withdrawal of banknotes from a bank by its depositors who are unsure of the solvency of the bank. This takes time and is limited by the amount of money available in ATMs. In a CBDC world, the ‘runs’ will be really quick and only constrained by the amount of CBDC issued by the central banks. Depositors will replace their deposits with CBDC pronto. This secular move away from deposits will increase the cost of funds of commercial banks. They will have to depend on other sources of funds than the low-cost deposits that customers deposit every month in the form of salaries to them. A reduction in deposits will reduce the availability of credit in the system. This will have a repercussion on the wider economy. It will also mean greater demand for reserves from the central bank by the commercial banks to provide credit to their customers. Central banks will increase their reserves and their balance sheets will become bigger. In summary, central banks will become more powerful. China’s Digital Yuan Play For these reasons, I believe CBDC is inevitable in this decade. Central banks will have to contend with the competition of cryptocurrency and the needs of the digital economy. They will find a mechanism to create a ‘platform-based model’ where the central banks create CBDC using a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) or a centralised ledger model while allowing private players to provide interfaces for customers to deal with this ledger. They will have to provide some level of comfort on privacy to their citizens by separating the transaction layer of CBDC from the core ledger. But for China, the benefits of a digital Yuan do not just stop there. Beyond these benefits, a CBDC is a boon for a surveillance state as it turns into an ‘eye in the sky’ for every transaction happening in the economy. For China where all banking is owned by the state, the secular shift from deposits of commercial banks to CBDC is also a lesser problem. And most importantly, China is looking at leadership in CBDC to replace the US Dollar in global trade. A digital Yuan is the most feasible option for it to challenge the entrenched ‘dollarisation’ of the physical currencies around the world. 88 per cent of global trade is done using the US Dollar and it is what sustains the Dollar as the global reserve currency. For China to replace the US as the future global superpower, it will have to find ways to make Yuan the reserve currency. An early lead in adopting CBDC for domestic and cross-border payments is a great option to make a real fist of it.China’s early trials in this space will force a response from other large economies on CDBC. The interoperability of sovereign CBDCs and how quickly the US is able to put together a CBDC alliance that counters China will be interesting to watch. In the meantime, I expect the current Chines regime to overplay its hand here like it has been usual for it in the last few years. Expect China to play hardball with the digital Yuan in global trade. This will be an interesting space in geo-economics to watch. PolicyWTF: Casually Banning Films CommitteeThis section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?— Pranay KotasthaneMost film certification authorities in democratic republics categorise movie content according to age-appropriateness and nothing more. But India’s is an exception. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) — commonly referred to as the “Censor Board” — also plays the role of a film editor. The CBFC is empowered to ask filmmakers to drop certain scenes. Not just that, the CBFC in its wisdom can just plainly refuse to certify a movie. In such cases, filmmakers have the option of appealing to the reviewing committee of the CBFC. If even that fails, they could hitherto appeal to a 5-member Delhi-based tribunal called the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT). This tribunal has now been shut down through an ordinance along with eight other tribunals. The stated intent is that this move will streamline legal recourses. Filmmakers will now have to appeal to High Courts directly and wait for the law to take its own (long) course. In other words, “tareekh pe tareekh, tareekh pe tareekh, tareekh pe tareekh…”You would have already guessed why this is a PolicyWTF. Higher transaction costs, the existing burden on our High Courts, lack of state capacity, yadda yadda yadda. You can read these arguments here, here, and here. I won’t go there.Instead, let’s address the larger PolicyWTF - the CBFC itself. As long as it is a government-appointed body with the power to play the role of a film editor, absurdities will continue. It is for this reason that the Shyam Benegal Committee in 2016 recommended that the CBFC’s powers to modify and change movies should be taken away and it should purely function as a certification body. Exactly what was needed. But it was also exactly what the government wouldn’t allow. And so, five years after that report, we still have a CBFC which is rubbing its hands to also edit OTT content. Moreover, the percentage of films without any cuts fell to its lowest levels over the last 100 years in 2016-17. And now, even the FCAT has been shut down. Clearly, film censorship is going in a direction opposite to what previous committees have recommended. So, is there a solution to this meta policyWTF? Yes, turns out markets can help here. In 2016, my former colleagues Madhav, Adhip, Shikha, Siddarth, Devika and Guru wrote an interesting paper in which they recommended that film certification should be privatised. Deploying the Banishing Bureaucracy framework, they wrote:The CBFC be renamed the Indian Movie Authority (IMA) and that the primary purpose of the IMA would be to license and regulate private organisations called Independent Certifying Authorities (ICAs) which will then certify films. The certificate granted by ICA will only restrict what age groups the film is appropriate for. This is the only form of pre-censorship that is necessary in today’s age as all other restrictions on film exhibition should be applied retrospectively. The choice of ICAs available for producers to approach will render the question of subjectivity moot as the producer can switch to another ICA if unsatisfied with the certificate. The IMA will set the guidelines for the ICAs to follow and will be the first point of appeal.From Privatising Film Certification: Towards a Modern Film Rating Regime, Madhav Chandavarkar et al, Takshashila Discussion Document.In other words, this solution reimagines the CBFC as a body that grants licenses to independent and private certification organisations called ICAs. These ICAs need to adhere to certain minimum threshold criteria set by the CBFC. Beyond these criteria, some ICAs may specialise themselves as being the sanskaari ones trigger-happy to award an “A” certification while others may choose to adopt a more liberal approach. In the authors’ words:This will allow the marketplace of ideas to draw the lines of what kind of content is fit for what kind of audience with the government still being capable of stepping in to curb prurient sensibilities.This solution has the added benefit of levelling the playing field between OTT content and films. Currently, the CBFC has no capacity to certify the content being churned out on tens of streaming services. By delegating this function to private ICAs, the government can ensure adherence to certification norms.In essence. just as governments can often plug market failures, markets too can sometimes plug government failures. Reforming our ‘Censor Board’ requires giving markets a chance.There’s a lot more detail in the paper about grievance redressal, certification guidelines, and appeals procedure. Read it here. PS: A couple of days after the FCAT was shut down in India came the news that Italy on the other hand has abolished all film censorship and moved to a self-certification system instead. Saluti! A Framework a Week:Tools for thinking about public policy— Pranay KotasthaneDr Yuen Yuen Ang is one of the most insightful writers on China’s economy. Her first book explained how China managed to escape poverty. Her second book, China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Growth and Vast Corruption has a framework on corruption that’s relevant to us in India.Created based on China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Growth and Vast CorruptionThe framework classifies government corruption on two axes — “who in the government engages in corruption?” and “does the money giver get anything in return?”. Four types of corruption result from this categorisation as shown above.Ang claims that in most East Asian economies, the dominant mode of corruption is “access money” — bribes given to political elites with an explicit quid pro quo arrangement. On the other hand, the dominant mode of corruption in India is “speed money” — bribes given to low-level bureaucrats for property registration, a driving license, and so on. Though it intuitively sounds right, I take this result with heaps of salt as it is based on a survey measuring perceived corruption from the eyes of just 15 experts from the countries discussed. Nevertheless, I found the framework interesting. A typology of corruption is a great idea. The book claims that with rising income levels, corruption doesn’t vanish but just gets institutionalised in the ‘access money’ quadrant. To drive the point home, Ang connects these four types of corruption to four kinds of drugs. In her words:“all corruption is bad – they are all drugs – but petty theft and grand theft are like toxic drugs [or drinking bleach, a term suggested by Jordan Schneider]; speed money is like painkillers; access money is like anabolic steroids – they help you grow rapidly but come with serious side effects that accumulate over time.Access money functions as an incentive system for politicians and capitalists to work together, especially when massive infrastructure, involving huge sunk costs, is required for an emerging economy to take off. Access money overpays capitalists to do this, through cheap loans, subsidies, state backing, and in return you get feverish growth that lifts 700 million people out of poverty.”That’s neat storytelling!HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Article] Stewart Paterson’s white paper on the Hinrich Foundation site: The digital Yuan and China’s potential financial revolution.[Article] Shyam Benegal on his tryst with CBFC. Money quote: ‘With Bhumika, there were no cuts, no obscenity. According to the censor guidelines, there was nothing that was transgressed, yet it was given an A certificate. I asked, why? They said, the subject of your film is adult. Get on the email list at publicpolicy.substack.com

In this episode we are Joined by Ajay and Hariamurth to discuss about the need of Censorship and Censor board. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/butterbiscuit/message

**Trigger Warning:** In this episode we do talk about sexual assault and victim blaming. The topic of consent is important and as it directly relates to the episode, we do discuss unwanted attention and sexual harrassment. Be advised. If these topics are sensitive areas for you, we encourage you to skip over this episode. It is the intent of everyone involved in *Across the Mooniverse* to create an atmosphere of inclusivity and safety. We fight for love and for justice. Always. ---------------------------------- In this episode, Mike and Maddie discuss all things from Japanese grammar to 90s Alt Rock bands. This episode gets a bit giggly and tangential because Maddie was enjoying some wine at the time of recording. We also discuss "Punishment Awaits: the House of Fortune Is the Monster Mansion", the second episode of the first season. ------------------------------------------------------------ **Just a Quick Note** Mike's microphone was off for about the first two minutes of the show, so his audio is a little weird at first. We correct the issue once it's discovered. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Trigger Warning: In this episode we do talk about sexual assault and victim blaming. The topic of consent is important and as it directly relates to the episode, we do discuss unwanted attention and sexual harrassment. Be advised. If these topics are sensitive areas for you, we encourage you to skip over this episode. It is the intent of everyone involved in Across the Mooniverse to create an atmosphere of inclusivity and safety. We fight for love and for justice. Always. In this episode, Mike and Maddie discuss all things from Japanese grammar to 90s Alt Rock bands. This episode gets a bit giggly and tangential because Maddie was enjoying some wine at the time of recording. We also discuss "Punishment Awaits: the House of Fortune Is the Monster Mansion", the second episode of the first season. Just a Quick Note Mike's microphone was off for about the first two minutes of the show, so his audio is a little weird at first. We correct the issue once it's discovered. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Don’t have time to keep a tab on news throughout t the day? CNN News18 brings you the day’s top news and newsmakers in less than 3 minutes! Here are today’s top picks: EC recommends disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs **SPORTS** For an athlete, nothing can be worse than a career threatening injury and when it happens at the biggest stage of them all - the Olympics - it can sometimes break him or her down, mentally more than physically. Vinesh Phogat was 21 and among India's brightest hopes of a medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics when disaster struck. Phogat dislocated her knee in the quarter-final bout against China's Sun Yanan and was stretchered off the mat in agonizing pain. But now she is back on the mat and aims to give her 100% in the tournaments she plays in future. **ENTERTAINMENT** The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL to block the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movie Padmaavat. “We have to function as a constitutional court. Can't block a movie from screening,” said a bench of the apex court. The PIL, filed by lawyer ML Sharma, question the Censor Board’s certificate to the Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor starrer. He claimed there could be murders and arson if the film is released. Rejecting Sharma’s argument, the SC said law and order was a job of the states. “Won't re-hear the case. We have rejected even states’ objections and have decided that a ban isn't permissible,” the court said. The Supreme Court had cleared Bhansali’s film and suspended the ban orders by four states on Thursday. **TECH** To help businesses communicate better with their customers globally including in India, WhatsApp on Thursday launched "WhatsApp Business" - a free-to-download Android app for small businesses. The new app will make it easier for companies to connect with customers, and more convenient for its 1.3 billion users to chat with businesses that matter to them.

Don’t have time to keep a tab on news throughout the day? CNN News18 brings you the day’s top news and newsmakers in less than 3 minutes! Here are today’s top picks: Ghatak Team hits Pakistan in POK, 3 Pak troops killed, 1 injured, Action in response to Saturday's Ceasefire violation ENTERTAINMENT:- A film inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the various development schemes initiated by his government is set to release across the country this Friday. Modi Kaka ka Gaon had earlier been denied release by the Censor Board, which cited a number of controversial moments in the film. After much editing, the film has finally been cleared for release. SPORTS:- David Warner posted a century after a no-ball reprieve and skipper Steve Smith was on track for a four straight Boxing Day Test ton as Australia made a solid start to the fourth Ashes Test against England on Tuesday. Warner received a massive let-off on 99 to claim his 21st Test hundred as an Australia side chasing a series whitewash took full advantage of winning the toss on an unresponsive Melbourne Cricket Ground drop-in pitch. Smith, who hasn't been dismissed in a Melbourne Test match since Boxing Day 2014, was still batting at the close on 65 with Shaun Marsh not out on 31 as Australia’s score read 244/3. TECH:- WhatsApp has confirmed that it will discontinue support for a number of platforms from December 31. The messaging app will drop support for 'BlackBerry OS', 'BlackBerry 10', 'Windows Phone 8.0' and older platforms. In addition, WhatsApp will also withdraw support for 'Nokia S40' after December 2018 and Android OS version 2.3.7 and older after February 1, 2020.

Since we can’t see Padmavati, we discuss three Bollywood films that have been mired in controversy. Show Notes: Padmavati (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmavati_(film)) ‘Padmavati’: Incidents that made headlines about the Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh-Shahid Kapoor film (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/padmavati-incidents-that-made-headlines-about-the-deepika-padukone-ranveer-singh-shahid-kapoor-film/Ranveer-Singh-reveals-why-he-cried-during-Padmavati-shoots/photostory/62047771.cms) Historical Fiction (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_fiction) Billu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billu), Aamir Khan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanaa_(film)#Controversy), Gunday (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunday) Trends in Bollywood controversies (https://www.scoopwhoop.com/entertainment/controversial-bollywood-movies/) This Film Is Not Yet Rated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Film_Is_Not_Yet_Rated) Making sense of these controversies The Wind Rises (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_Rises#Controversy) Bandit Queen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandit_Queen) Shekhar Kapur (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhar_Kapur) and Phoolan Devi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoolan_Devi) “The Great Indian Rape Trick (http://arundhati-roy.blogspot.ca/2004/11/great-indian-rape-trick-i.html)” Roger Ebert’s Bandit Queen review (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bandit-queen-1995) Aarakshan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarakshan) Reservation in India (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_in_India) Equality versus equity (http://culturalorganizing.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/originalequityvsequality.jpg) Truth and Reconciliation in Canada (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(Canada)) Aligarh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aligarh_(film)) (INTERVAL (“Ud-daa Punjab (https://youtu.be/Ezsb5afVXQQ) from Udta Punjab) Madras Cafe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Cafe) Sri Lankan Civil War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War) and the Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Rajiv_Gandhi) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Tigers_of_Tamil_Eelam) M.I.A. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.I.A._(rapper)) The location of the titular café is not clear in the film Udta Punjab (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udta_Punjab) Traffic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_(2000_film)) and The Wire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire) Matt on That Brown Guy podcast (http://bollycast.libsyn.com/episode-12-review-of-udta-punjab) Udta Punjab controversy: How a Bollywood film won a historic battle against Censor Board (http://www.catchnews.com/bollywood-news/udta-punjab-controversy-timeline-how-a-bollywood-film-won-a-historic-battle-against-censor-board-udta-punjab-movie-latest-news-1465824531.html) Interview with Pahlaj Nihalani (https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/clearing-indu-sarkar-without-cuts-main-reason-behind-my-sacking-says-pahlaj-nihalani-1739488) ‘Udta Punjab’ Censor Copy Leaks Online, Producers File Cyber-Crime Complaint (http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/06/15/udta-punjab-leaked_n_10480546.html) Puducherry cable channel airs pirated copy, HC bans 600 online links (http://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/udta-punjab-updates-puducherry-cable-channel-airs-pirated-copy-hc-bans-600-online-links-2840376.html) Deglamourizing Punjab NEXT TIME: Katrina Kaif is a badass Pakistani spy in Ek Tha Tiger and the new Tiger Zinda Hai, also Salman Khan is there Bollywood is For Lovers is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network powered by ATB Financial (http://www.atb.com/listen/Pages/default.aspx) Check out the Well Endowed Podcast (https://www.thewellendowedpodcast.com/?utmsource=Publicate&utmmedium=embed&utmcontent=It%27s+Good+to+be+Well+Endowed+%7C+ECF&utmcampaign=Oct+2017+APN+memb...

Movie Meltdown - Episode 390 This week we talk with the one, the only - John Waters. Now is he intrinsically evil? Well, we'd say no. But the Censor Board may have a different answer. Or The Baltimore Police Department. Or certain Canadian film distributors. Or... well, there's probably a lot of people. Listen as we revisit stories of his early days of shooting films in his hometown, specifically, the newly restored and rereleased Multiple Maniacs. And just how this kid from Baltimore got together with his friends and inadvertently came to offend so many people over the years. But along with these crazy stories comes some wisdom. So as John goes out into the world and talks to people today... does he hold the key to living an interesting and fulfilling life? Listen and find out for yourself. And as we bask in the cultured luster of Janus Films presents, we also discuss... The Cavalcade Of Perversion... on their front lawn, shooting on 16mm, it's like a hostage video, smoking pot and taking acid, lobsters are scary, the Theatre of the Absurd, tawdry, they look like snuff movies, it was my monster movie and Divine was the monster,there was no art direction in there, Edward Albee, in black and white, we were all kids that were in trouble in suburbia, There were no laws really against that, the Theatre of the Absurd, that was a friend of mine that was a junkie, I was just so thrilled you could see it and hear it, oh God no wonder my parents were uptight, she started sobbing and screaming, we weren't really like that... but our humor was really like that, the judge read us a poem, in my LSD'ed mind at the time, with those two big Mickey Mouse ears, we wanted to be hippies and beatniks, magnetic stripe sound, which at that time was fairly radical, the stations of the cross, it was a joke on an exploitation movie, she was kind of goth before there was such a thing, Conspiracy To Commit Indecent Exposure and Lobstora. Spoiler Alert: While we talk extensively about Multiple Maniacs, I'm pretty sure you can't really 'spoil' that movie. You just need to see it yourself to truly experience it. So go watch Multiple Maniacs! "We didn't have permits, we didn't ask to shoot. We just hit and run!"

In this episode we recap the back end of 2016′s Bollywood releases. Show Notes: We’re back! Our episode on the first half of 2016 (https://audioboom.com/posts/4732056-episode-21-2016-mid-year-review?t=0) The master list on Lettrboxd (http://letterboxd.com/mattbowes/list/bollywood-is-for-lovers-master-list/) Bollywood (http://www.blue13dance.com/) at Disney’s California Adventure Festival of Holidays (https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/disney-california-adventure/festival-of-holidays/) Sarbjit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbjit_(film)) Phobia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia_(2016_film)) Udta Punjab (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udta_Punjab) There’s a lot to read out there on UP’s problems with the Censor Board, but for the sake of brevity here’s an article from the Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/udta-punjab-and-bollywoods-battle-with-the-censors-a7113286.html) Raman Raghav 2.0 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raman_Raghav_2.0) “Qatl-E-Aam (https://youtu.be/zK7RNRsXe8I)” Sultan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_(2016_film)) and Dishoom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishoom) Mohenjo Daro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohenjo_Daro_(film)) and Rustom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rustom_(film)) Hrithik Roshan’s unicorn dance (https://youtu.be/UiN3AY7bdBg) A Flying Jatt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Flying_Jatt) & Baar Baar Dekho (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baar_Baar_Dekho) Erin doesn’t like time travel movies (INTERVAL (“Bulleya (https://youtu.be/wTgrZE9RWNY)” from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) Pink (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_(2016_film)), M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.S._Dhoni:_The_Untold_Story), & Mirzya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirzya_(film)) Mirzya’s chorus like dances (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangal_(film)) Shivaay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivaay) & Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ae_Dil_Hai_Mushkil) #ShivaayMidAirBangSesh with broken leg BTW Lisa Haydon’s vatavaran Dear Zindagi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Zindagi) Stay away from guys who bring guitars to party (https://youtu.be/wHD6z0vuWiM) Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahaani_2:_Durga_Rani_Singh) Befikre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befikre) Dangal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangal_(film)) Fatima Sana Shaikh & Sanya Malhotra dancing to Beyoncé (http://beingindian.com/entertainment/dangal-girls-dancing/) The 62nd Filmfare Awards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/62nd_Filmfare_Awards) Koffee With Karan on Hotstar (http://www.hotstar.com/tv/koffee-with-karan/1525) Split Screen Podcast: Episode 24 – The Most Anticipated Bollywood Movies Of 2017 (Part 1) (http://blankpagebeatdown.com/split-screen-podcast-episode-24-the-most-anticipated-bollywood-movies-of-2017-part-1/) NEXT TIME: three films featuring Sonam Kapoor! Find us on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/bollywood-is-for-lovers/id1036988030?mt=2)! and Stitcher (http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/bollywood-is-for-lovers)! Follow us on Twitter! (https://twitter.com/bollywoodpod) Like us on Facebook!(https://www.facebook.com/BollywoodIsForLovers/) #Sarbjit #Phobia #UdtaPunjab #RamanRaghav2.0 #Sultan #Dishoom #MohenjoDaro #Rustom #AFlyingJatt #BaarBaarDekho #Pink #M.S. DhoniTheUntoldStory #Mirzya #Shivaay #AeDilHaiMushkil #DearZindagi #Befikre #Dangal #Bollywood #BollywoodPodcast #BollywoodIsForLovers

Sabka Bhai Mawali Bhai talks about the Udta Punjab Bawal. In his quirky style, he asks the Censor Board to just chill.

In this first of kind spoiler free episode, Jishnu and Tejas are joined by fellow Geek Fruit member Dinkar as they discuss the brilliant but slightly frustrating premiere that was Deadpool. Almost expectedly the profane and irreverent nature of the action comedy brought out the best of Ryan Reynolds and the worst of the Censor Board and its head honcho Pahlaj Nihalani

This week on NL Hafta, we discuss the meat ban in Maharashtra and the Censor Board denying clearance to some recent movies. Then the team moves on to discuss the case in Gurgaon where two Nepali women were rescued from a Saudi diplomat’s house. We also discuss the Bombay High Court's order on the National Stock Exchange’s defamation suit against Moneylife magazine.Produced by Kartik Nijhawan See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.