Veteran filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has launched a fierce critique against India's film certification body, labelling the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as "outdated" and asserting that its very existence "insults the viewers." His comments come at a time when the censorship battle surrounding the much-anticipated Vijay-starrer 'Jana Nayagan' has ignited a fresh debate on creative freedom and regulatory overreach in Indian cinema.
The Core of Varma's Argument: A Digital Age Reality Check
In a detailed post on social media platform X on January 9, 2026, Varma argued that the concept of a censor board has become obsolete. He pointed out that the CBFC was established in an era when visual media was scarce and tightly controlled. Today, however, the digital landscape has rendered such gatekeeping futile.
"We live in a time where a 12-year-old with a phone can watch a terrorist execution filmed on a GoPro, a 9-year-old can stumble upon hardcore porn, and a bored retiree can binge extremist propaganda," Varma wrote. He emphasized that all this content is consumed "uncut, uncensored, algorithmically pushed" without any gatekeeper, making the board's attempts to trim scenes or blur objects in films a "joke."
Hypocrisy and the Power of Social Media
RGV drew a sharp comparison between cinema and social media, noting that the latter is a far more powerful and pervasive medium. "It (social media) is full of political venom, communal poison, character assassinations, live, uncensored shouting matches in the name of debates," he stated. He questioned the logic of a society that freely consumes graphic violence online but becomes "'concerned' when a filmmaker shows something in a theatre," calling this "dangerous" hypocrisy.
He placed significant blame on the film industry itself for allowing the board to persist. "It has long outlived its purpose, but it’s being kept alive out of laziness to debate its relevance now, and it is the film industry as a whole which is mainly responsible for this," Varma asserted.
Age Ratings Over Cuts: A Proposed Alternative
The director clarified that his stance is not solely about the 'Jana Nayagan' controversy but about the principle of censorship as a whole. He proposed a more modern system focused on information rather than restriction.
"Age classification makes sense. Warnings of the content make sense. Censorship does not," he declared. Varma argued that the authorities' job should be to trust citizens to make their own choices, which aligns with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and expression. He warned that the current process often subjects a film to the "personal tastes, biases, and agendas" of those on the certification panel.
The Immediate Context: 'Jana Nayagan' Release in Limbo
Varma's broadside coincides with the ongoing legal tussle over the release of director H Vinoth's film 'Jana Nayagan', starring Thalapathy Vijay. On January 9, 2026, a single-judge bench of the Madras High Court initially directed the CBFC to grant the film a U/A certificate immediately. However, in a swift turn of events, a division bench led by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava temporarily stayed this order later the same day.
The court has now adjourned the matter for further hearing on January 21, 2026. This legal hurdle has effectively dashed the makers' plans for a Pongal holiday release, keeping the film's fate uncertain and the debate around censorship fiercely alive.
Concluding his argument, Ram Gopal Varma challenged both the authorities and the film fraternity. He questioned whether the former has the courage to admit obsolescence and whether the industry has the collective will to challenge the system. "So instead of raising this topic once in a while over a particular film, the fight should be with that particular system of thinking which created the censor board," he stated, calling for a fundamental rethink rather than case-by-case battles.
