Prasoon Joshi holds 1st board meeting of newly instituted CBFC Board

The first meeting of the newly constituted CBFC Board was held by chairman Prasoon Joshi on Monday.

The meeting was attended by board members Gautami Tadimalla, Jeevitha Rajashekar, Mihir Bhuta, Naresh Chandra Lal, Neil Scott Nongkynrih, Ramesh Patnage, TS Nagabharna, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Vidya Balan, Vivek Agnihotri and Waman Kendre. Also present at the meeting was the CEO Anurag Shrivastava.

Talking about this, Prasoon Joshi said, "It was important to have this meeting as early as possible for the board members to know each other and exchange valuable ideas. The board comprises of accomplished people and it was enriching to have meaningful discussions around the functioning of the body."

"The way forward will draw from the collective wisdom and experience of this group. We got a lot of valuable insights from these interactions and I am thankful to all the Board members for being focused with an intricate approach. The purpose is clearly to make things better for all stakeholders where there is mutual respect and collaboration," he added.

"It was felt that the constant fine-tuning of our sensibilities towards changing world of cinema is desirable and also that the processes should be further streamlined for the benefit of the industry practitioners," he further said.

The CBFC board also decided that soon they would have an industry interaction to share the refinement of the processes and take industry inputs to make the certification process as smooth as possible.

New board member Vidya Balan commented, "Our first meeting was a great first step in the right direction ... towards understanding our role as the board and determining our approach. It was reassuring to know we are all on the same page."

Continuing board member Vani Tripathi Tikoo said: "It's a huge way forward. The fact that we sat for several hours and thrashed out most of the issues we have been faced with is a big step. The spirit of understanding and sensitivity to art is the take away from this progressive meet.