Ministry of Defence instructs CBFC to advise production houses to seek NOC from MoD before the telecast/OTT streaming of any film or documentary on Indian Army

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) wrote to Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to advise production houses to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) before the telecast of any film or documentary on Indian Army.

The decision came the ministry received complaints raising strong objections about portrayal of Indian Army personnel and military uniform in an insulting manner.

“It has been brought to the notice of this Ministry that some production houses, making films on Army theme, are using contents which are distorting the image of the Indian Army,” reads the letter by MoD.

A web series titled XXX Uncensored (season 2), produced by Ekta Kapoor, was severely criticised for showing Indian army personnel in poor light. The Ministry of Defence said that the web series is “depicting Indian Army personnel and military uniform in a distorted manner”.

“Therefore, the producers of the movies/web series etc based on Army theme may be advised to obtain the NoC (no objection certificate) from the ministry of defence before the telecast of any movie or documentary on Army theme in public domain,” the letter stated. The suggestion is extended to Over The Top (OTT) platforms as well.

The letter written by the Under Secretary Sudarshan Kumar has also been sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for consideration.

In its letter, the MoD has also suggested that production houses be advised to avoid and prevent any incident which either distorts the image of Defence forces or hurts their sentiments.