Two days after members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) quit en masse, following the resignation of its Chairperson Leela Samson, the Narendra Modi Government replaced her with Hindi film producer Pahlaj Nihalani and appointed nine new members.
Nihalani, who has produced films such as Aankhen and Shola aur Shabnam , has been appointed in honorary capacity, effective from January 19, for a period of three years, an official statement from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said. The other members who were appointed include writer-director Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, best known for the television serial Chanakya , scriptwriter Mihir Bhuta, Bengali film actor George Baker (who recently joined BJP and fought and lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls), Tamil and Telugu actor Jeevitha, actor Vani Tripathi Tikoo (national secretary of BJP), Tamil playwright and film actor S Ve Sekar, Syed Abdul Bari, Ramesh Patange and filmmaker Ashoke Pandit. All these members have also been appointed with immediate effect for a period of three years. Last week, Samson had resigned alleging interference from the government.
I&B Minister Arun Jaitley had hit back at her and other members who quit for “politicising routine issues” and had called them “rebels without a cause” in a post on Facebook.