Stating that the censor board revamp committee is there to do a "thorough job" and not simply "window dressing", the panel head and veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal on Monday said he will ask the government to extend its two-month term if the report is not ready by that time-frame.
"Well if it does not get ready by two months we will ask the government to extend the time period... Because it's important enough for us to do a thorough job. We are not there simply to do window dressing."
Benegal was speaking at the 6th National Science Film Festival & Competition (NSFF) press meet in Mumbai.
The committee, set up to revamp the functioning of censor board which has been mired in controversies in recent past, is scheduled to submit its report in two months.
The panel also includes filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, adman Piyush Pandey and film critic Bhawana Somaaya.
Benegal said the committee will look into what the audience feels about certifying films.
"We are taking into consideration the views of all the stakeholders, which means cinema audiences. The questions are being posed to people via Internet. There is a website of the NFDC, asking some questions. And also offering to the people exactly what has happened in this field earlier or over a period of time," the 81-year-old filmmaker said.
"All of that will be available now to anyone who wishes to study and comment on what they feel should be done in terms of certifying films for public choice. Those includes the film industry, and the non governmental sectors, organisations or NGOs too.
"That exercise is going on at present. It's only after that, that we will be sitting down and working towards creating a report. Hopefully, it'll be useful to us," he added. (More) PTI JUR NRB NM
Benegal said right now the panel is examining if the current functioning of the censor board is "useful" or not.
"What we are doing is to look at it and see if it is useful the way it (censor board) is working or it is not.
Whether you can keep certifying films, but not as a negative act of mitigating the films. All of these things are being studied."
Filmmakers have complained of arbitrary objections and cuts sought by the board in the recent past including the criticism for the cuts the latest James Bond movie "Spectre" had to go through for its screening in India.
A list of banned "cuss" words, circulated by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani had also become a subject of controversy.