The Defence Ministry had obtained some complaints putting forward strong criticisms about the portrayal of Indian Army personnel and the military uniform in an ‘insulting manner’ as per sources.
Taking sharp criticism to the portrayal of armed forces personnel in some web series, the Defence Ministry has written to the Central Board of Film Certification, urging that production houses may be advised to obtain a no-objection certificate from the ministry before telecasting any film, documentary or web series on an Army theme, sources said.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with “regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952.” Films screened in cinemas and on television may only be publicly exhibited in India after certification by the board.
A letter intimating of the decision was addressed to the Regional Officer, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and was released on July 27, 2020.
The letter, has been triggered by producer Ekta Kapoor’s show on video-streaming platform ALT Balaji that allegedly depicted the Indian Army in a “distorted manner”.
XXX is a 2018 Hindi erotic comedy-drama web series directed by Ken Ghosh for the video on demand platform ALTBalaji. It features Kyra Dutt, Aparnaa Bajpai, Rithvik Dhanjani, Shantanu Maheshwari, Ankit Gera, Pryanca Talukdar and Aparna Sharma in the lead roles.
In June, Bigg Boss 13 contestant Hindustani Bhau had filed a police complaint against Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor for “disrespecting” the Army in their show.
The letter mention particularly that ‘XXX Uncensored (season-2)’ web series depicted Indian Army Personnel and Military Uniform in distorted manner. FIR against ALT Balaji was also launched seeking legal action against the producer and the OTT platform.
