Glad all like-minded people are in CBFC now: Vidya Balan

Mumbai:  Vidya Balan is one of the newly- appointed members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the actor says she is happy that the board comprises “like-minded” people. Recently, lyricist-adman Prasoon Joshi replaced Pahlaj Nihalani as the chairperson of the CBFC.

The government also reconstituted the board, which also includes new members such as filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, Narendra Kohli, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Gautami Tadimalla, among others. Asked about her decision to be a part of the CBFC, Vidya said, “I thought if I don’t say yes to this, I’d lose the right to criticise any decision ever taken by the CBFC. I thought I was ready to take the responsibility.” 

“I don’t want to say anything about what our approach is going to be or what our decisions are going to be based on. But we had a meeting recently and I felt good that all like-minded people are on the board,” she told reporters. The actor was speaking at the launch of a new channel, &Prive HD last evening.

Actress Konkona Sensharma, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj and producer Manish Mundra were also present at the event. Bhardwaj said Joshi is his good friend and hoped he continues to be “poetic” in his approach as the CBFC chief. “It feels good that Vidya is there in the committee and a person who is a poet is heading the CBFC. I hope he remains poetic in his procedures also. I am hopeful. Prasoon is a friend, I really love his work,” he said.

While Vidya is all set to take over the new responsibility, she is also looking forward to her next film “Tumhari Sulu” and catching up on movies. The “Begum Jaan” actor said she believes that there is a shift in films today, with more focus on chronicling “relevant stories”.

“Slowly but surely, we are gearing up towards making and watching films that are relatable, where the hero is not out of the ordinary. He or she is an ordinary person who overcomes circumstances in his or her life and emerges to be extraordinary.

“That’s the shift, which is why you see an actor like Akshay Kumar do a film like ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’. It’s not about wanting to make films about social issues, but wanting to tell our stories, relevant to us, rooted in reality,” she said.

Some big-ticket films this year, like Salman Khan’s “Tubelight” and Shah Rukh Khan’s “Jab Harry Met Sejal”, failed to work at the box office but Vidya said a good film will be successful, irrespective of its star cast. “I don’t want to comment about any particular film but if a film is good, it doesn’t matter if there are big stars or not. A good film always manages to connect and do well,” she said.

“I saw ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’ and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Two years ago, you couldn’t have imagined that there will be a film about erectile dysfunction so well made with a fairly popular actor,” she said.