News Broadcasting
Cinema is fine; Television needs a censor
MUMBAI: With a panel as articulate, nothing short of an intriguing session was expected. Amongst the first sessions to start off on the last day at Frames 2004, “Sense, censor and sensibility” did open a can of worms, proverbially of course.
Issue about the cinema censorship has been a squeamish one and the panel did try and air film-makers’ grievances. Throughout the debate, all that the esteemed panel opined that cinema is fine since audience has a choice but it is television that needs a censor.
Vocalising the unfair and illogical treatment meted out to the filmmakers, the panel comprising director – producer Mahesh Bhatt, director-producer Ramesh Sippy, director Sudhir Mishra, actor-director Rahul Bose offered that the censor board – in its present structure is extremely redundant. “If you kiss a woman on screen, you get an A certificate. But if you kill her, you get a U,” said Bhatt.
The panel more or less did agree than any form of censor was unfair. Solutions ranging from moderate- ‘literate’ censor to body chosen by the film fraternity were discussed and subsequently shot down. What was agreed on was a semblance of a rating system like Western cinema.
Unarguably, what the panelists and the host – The Film Producers Guild of India president and Ficci entertainment committee president Amit Khanna urged has been screaming at our faces for long. Is the censorship really necessary and who decides what has should be censored especially in a ‘democratic’ country like ours? Bolstering their plea to completely do away with current high ‘politicised’, ‘bureaucratic and ‘humiliating’ system were views of the members in the audience, who had a tale or two about the unpleasantries meted out to them.
Although the panel didn’t deal with the issue in depth, both Bhatt and Khanna voiced their support for I&B minister R S Prasad and censor board chief’s views on television censorship. “Do something about television,” urged Bhatt which Khanna seconded.
Exactly like the title itself, censor seems like an odd ball between sense and sensibility, till of course it tries to ‘fit in’ and adapt.
News Broadcasting
News18 India to air Sabse Bada Dangal on 4 May counting day
Channel promises fastest results, live trends and analysis across five states.
MUMBAI: Ballots will do the talking and screens will do the shouting. As counting day approaches for high-stakes Assembly elections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, News18 India is gearing up for an all-day broadcast of its flagship election show, Sabse Bada Dangal, on 4 May from 6 am onwards. The Hindi news channel plans to deliver continuous, real-time updates as votes are tallied, combining live counting data with on-ground reporting and studio analysis. With political fortunes set to shift through the day, the coverage will track every swing, surge and surprise as trends turn into results.
The broadcast will feature a mix of senior political leaders, analysts and experts, offering instant reactions and decoding the evolving electoral picture. Expect heated debates, quick takes and detailed breakdowns as the numbers settle across all five states.
For News18 India, counting day has long been a high-visibility moment. The network is banking on its reporting reach, editorial bandwidth and technology-driven coverage to stay ahead in what is often a fiercely competitive news cycle.
With multiple battlegrounds and shifting narratives, the day promises both drama and data in equal measure. And if all goes to plan, Sabse Bada Dangal will once again turn the counting of votes into prime-time spectacle.
