Hasnsal Mehta, Richa Chadha And Several Others React To The Government's Decision To Abolish FCAT

Hansal Mehta, Richa Chadha, Vishal Bharadwaj (Source: Instagram | @hansalmehta, @therichachadha, @vishalrbhardwaj)

It’s a sad day for the film industry as the government took a decision to dissolve The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) and this left the film-makers and actors concerned as the FCAT was their only beacon of hope to release the movies which have a hard time in getting a green signal from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

What is FCAT and how does it benefit the Film-makers?

The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) was introduced in 1983 as a statutory body by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. If a movie ever ran into problems with the CFBC i.e if the filmmakers were not happy with the CBFC’s decisions regarding the release of their film, they had a chance to approach the FCAT, which would then interfere and allow the release of the movie with some necessary cuts. So basically the tribunal resolved issues with a broad-minded approach. FCAT played a major role in the release of some of the movies like – Lipstick Under My Burkha, Udta Punjab, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Haraamkhor.

With the tribunal gone, what’s next?

After this order, the filmmakers dismayed by the decision of the CBFC will have to approach the high court directly, instead of the FCAT for the redressal of their grievances. The norms will be stricter and it’s going to get difficult with the FCAT gone.

Several actors and filmmakers like Hansal Mehta, Vishal Bharadwaj and Richa Chadha took to their social media handles to express their opinion on this decision.

Check out some of the tweets here

https://t.co/FUXut8TRJd pic.twitter.com/qN6dT6wmtc

— TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) April 6, 2021

Such a sad day for cinema

FILM CERTIFICATION APPELLATE TRIBUNAL ABOLISHED | 6 April, 2021

https://t.co/MoqSGROdLP

— Vishal Bhardwaj (@VishalBhardwaj) April 6, 2021

Do the high courts have a lot of time to address film certification grievances? How many film producers will have the means to approach the courts? The FCAT discontinuation feels arbitrary and is definitely restrictive. Why this unfortunate timing? Why take this decision at all?

— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 7, 2021

Film-critic Namrata Joshi and actors like Guneet Monga, Jai Mehta also tweeted about the same on their social media handles.