Films depicting consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs will have to carry an anti-drug warning, with the Centre making the requirement part of the guidelines governing certification of films for public exhibition.
On Wednesday, the Centre reconstituted the CBFC, bringing actors Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Pallavi Joshi and Prosenjit Chatterjee, filmmaker Priyadarshan and Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej, among others, onto its new 18-member board. A similar advisory was issued to private satellite television channels. The film certification guidelines lay down the principles the CBFC must follow when examining films for public exhibition under the Cinematograph Act.
The move marks a change from the earlier certification guidelines, which required the Central Board of Film Certification ( CBFC ) to ensure that scenes tending to “encourage, justify or glamorise drug addiction” were not shown, but did not prescribe such a specific on-screen warning.
