S1E5: Why Did Film Censorship Start In India?

This episode of history chatter looks at the early history of film censorship in India. It shows that the Indian state did not know much about the cinema industry until the 1920s.

The first attempt to coordinate censorship at the all India level did not begin until 1927. Interestingly enough, the primary objective of film censorship in India was not aesthetic but commercial.
The primary objective was to prevent Hollywood or American films from flooding the Indian market. Excessive emphasis on depictions of the women’s body of physical intimacy in those films was then held up as a major reason to reject them as a harmful influence on public morality.

Censorship of films India was a result of both commercial and aesthetic concerns. Eventually, when a majority of films shown in India were made in India, the earlier commercial history was quietly forgotten.
HistoryChatter examines the report of first all India commission of enquiry on films, the Indian Cinematograph Committee Report of 1927-28. Through a close reading of various chapters of the report, it recovers this forgotten commercial history of film censorship in India.

Hosted by Dr Anirban Bandyopadhyay 

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