IndiaPosted at: Sep 17 2026 4:32PM


Grammy winner Ricky Kej among 18-member reconstituted CBFC board

New Delhi, Sep 17 (UNI) Three-time Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej, National Award-winning actors Pankaj Tripathi and Manoj Joshi, filmmaker Priyadarshan and Padma Shri theatre director Waman Kendre are among the prominent names in the newly reconstituted Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), signalling a wider cultural mix in the body responsible for film certification.
The 18-member board, notified by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with immediate effect, brings together actors, filmmakers, musicians, writers, theatre personalities, producers and a film critic. The members have been appointed for three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Kej, the Bengaluru-based composer, is perhaps the most internationally decorated name on the panel. A three-time Grammy winner and four-time nominee, he is also a Padma Shri awardee and a UN Goodwill Ambassador. His work spans music albums, films, documentaries and environmental campaigns.
The acting contingent includes Tripathi, Joshi, Suniel Shetty, Preity Zinta, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Pallavi Joshi and Roopali Ganguly. Tripathi won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Mimi, while Pallavi Joshi won the corresponding award for The Kashmir Files. Joshi won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Dashakriya and is also a Padma Shri recipient.
Priyadarshan brings decades of experience across Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil cinema. His Kanchivaram won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film, while he has also received the Padma Shri.
The panel also has a strong regional and non-mainstream cultural presence. Nila Madhab Panda, a Padma Shri filmmaker, is known for socially themed cinema including I Am Kalam and Kadvi Hawa; his debut feature won 34 international awards and he has received multiple National Film Awards. Prosenjit Chatterjee represents Bengali cinema, while Hansraj Hans brings Punjabi and Sufi music into the panel.
Poet and music scholar Yatindra Mishra, recipient of the Raza Award and several literary honours, adds a literary and classical-music perspective. Supriya Yarlagadda represents film production, while Nishigandha Wad brings experience from Marathi cinema and academia.
The board also includes film critic Vinod Anupam, Gujarati filmmaker Abhishek Jain and writer-social commentator Ramesh Patange.
Waman Kendre, former National School of Drama director and Padma Shri recipient, and Patange are the two members retained from the previous panel.
The reconstitution does not alter the CBFC's statutory mandate. The board continues to function under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, and the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The previous board, constituted in 2017, continued beyond its initial three-year tenure until the latest reconstitution.
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