The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has been reconstituted by the Government of India with a fresh 18-member panel that includes several prominent film industry personalities.
Actors Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi and Suniel Shetty, along with acclaimed filmmaker Priyadarshan, are among those named to the new board. Other notable members include Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej, actors Prosenjit Chatterjee, Pallavi Joshi, Roopali Ganguly, Manoj Joshi and Nishigandha Wad, filmmakers Abhishek Jain and Neela Madhab Panda, producer Supriya Yarlagadda, singer Hansraj Hans, film critic Vinod Anupam, poet-writer Yatindra Mishra, theatre director Waman Kendre and writer Ramesh Patange.
The reconstitution was notified on September 16, 2026, by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under Section 3(1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, read with Rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The appointments take effect immediately and will remain valid for three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The new board will function under CBFC Chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati (former Prasar Bharati CEO), who was appointed earlier. Five of the members are women. Only two members from the previous board — Waman Kendre and Ramesh Patange — have been retained.
The CBFC was last formally reconstituted in August 2017 for a three-year term. Members had continued beyond that period until successors were appointed. The fresh panel brings a mix of experience from cinema, television, music, literature and theatre to the film certification body.