Fuad Zaman is a workaholic person. He loves to indulge himself in his job-related issues. So he does not know much about other arenas like sports or entertainment.
But once in a while, he takes his family out for a movie show to allow some refreshment. Recently he took his wife and his nine-year-old son to enjoy a movie that he thought would be a regular family drama. Little did Fuad know that there would be lots of slang and indecent gestures, which would generate an uncomfortable atmosphere for him and his wife in front of their kid.
This scenario is relatable nowadays. With the diversified stories and better portrayal by the actors, some excellent Bengali films have emerged in recent times.
People appreciate those films with their presence in the cinema halls. But due to some strong language or bold scenes, many faced uneasy moments with their families.
"I was so excited about this movie that I convinced my whole family for the first-day show. But I did not expect this much slang in the movie. It embarrassed me in front of my mother and my young cousins. I realised I should have waited for some days to get reviews from others," Niaz Ahmed, a third-year EEE student shared his experience with a recent hit film.
Popular YouTuber Rasheduzzaman Rakib, best known as RnaR, also pointed out the lacking of rated warnings in our cinema culture in one of his recent videos.
Unlike most countries, we do not practice a systematic rating system in the cinema industry. But we have a rating policy according to the Bangladesh Censorship of Films Rules 1977.
Three categories of the rating system are mentioned there. A 'U' certificate denotes films suitable for an unrestricted exhibition. An 'A' certificate denotes adult-only public exhibitions. Films certified for public exhibition with excisions of specified portions are identified with a triangle in the corner of the certificate.
But in reality, this system is not executed properly. In the USA, there are categories like PG-13, R, NC-17, etc., which distinctly indicate a film's suitability for different ages.
But in our country, the categories are not specified in detail. Though we should not follow the rating system of other countries due to cultural differences, we can take the basic idea.
The way kissing scenes or intimate scenes are treated in the western media does not suit the same way for our culture. Our country's definition of 'indecent' is not the same as in America. So a rating system might be introduced, where the categories will be decided based on our cultural and social structure.
Another problem is the lack of availability of information. Unlike IMDB, there is no good database for our cinemas. A good database is needed to get all the relevant information regarding our cinema.
That includes a film's censor-board-rating and parents' guide for profanity, violence, obscenity, and other things. This system can save people from getting embarrassed. Anyone can evaluate and decide whether to enjoy a film with family or not.
Cinemas are larger than life. To portray some portions of our lives realistically, certain strong language or bold scenes might be required in the script. But the target audience of those films is of a certain age. If the rating policy is not revised and executed effectively, that may cause many uneasy situations.
