'Begum Jaan' actor Vidya Balan appointed as CBFC member of Prasoon Joshi-led Censor Board

'Begum Jaan' of Bollywood Vidya Balan was appointed as part of the reconstituted Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) which will be led by Prasoon Joshi.

On Friday, new members of the reconstituted Board was announced in a press release. Pahlaj Nihalani has been the reason of several controversies and on July 28, a meeting of CBFC members was called by Nihalani in Thiruvananthapuram. Ministry of information and broadcasting sources indicated about Nihalani replacement during the meeting.

Here are the list of new CBFC members:

-Gautami Tadimalla
-Narendra Kohli
-Naresh Chandra Lal
-Neil Herbert Nongkynrih
-Vivek Agnihotri
-Waman Kendre
-Vidya Balan
-T.S. Nagabharana
-Ramesh Patange
-Vani Tripati Tikoo
-Jeevitha Rajasekhar
-Mihir Bhuta

Also Read: Pahlaj Nihalani sacked as CBFC chairman, Prasoon Joshi to replace him

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 (37 of 1952) read with rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 1983, the Central Government is pleased to reconstitute the existing Central Board of Film Certification as follows with immediate effect for a period of three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier," read the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting release.

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Commenting on the new members, the new Censor Board chief said, "All the good people who join will make a difference. I think it has to be done together and there has to be some sort of understanding which has to brought in this is a job, it needs to be done and we need to look at it constructively. That's what I would do. I would do it to the best of my abilities."

Joshi further spoke about his newly-appointed position, "I believe in taking on responsibilities. The way I have fulfilled other responsibilities, I will give my best to this new task as well. I am happy that people have expectations from me and I deeply respect the film industry."

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit sees the end of Pahlaj Nihalani's era and begining of Prasoon Joshi's era as a silver lining for the filmdom.

"We all respect him a lot and as a writer, as a thinker, he identifies with today's cinema," he told ANI.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar calls is a 'welcome move by I&B ministry.' 

With Inputs from ANI