Bollywood lyricist-screenwriter and a noted ad guru, Prasoon Joshi replaced Pahlaj Nihalani as CBFC chairperson on late Friday evening. The government issued a notification appointing Prasoon Joshi as CBFC chief.
The notification read, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 (37 of 1952) read with rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 1983, the Central Government is pleased to appoint Sh. Prasoon Joshi as Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in an honorary capacity from 11th August 2017 for a period of three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. The Notification supersedes the earlier notification F No. M-11020/1/2014-DO (FC) dated 19th January 2015.”
Things you must know about new Censor Board chief:
- Born in Uttarakhand’s Almora, Joshi is a noted lyricist, screenwriter, poet and successful ad man.
- One of the most respected names in the Indian film industry, Joshi is a science graduate.
- He started his career with Ogilvy and Mather. He went on to become the executive vice-president of McCann-Erickson.
- The 45-year-old began writing lyrics in 1999 with Bhopal Express.
- His big break in films came with the song Kaun dagar, kaun shehar in Rajkumar Santoshi’s 2001 film Lajja.
- Now, Joshi has many memorable jingles to his credit.
- Joshi became more prominent after writing songs for films such as Fanaa, Rang De Basanti, Black, Delhi 6 and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
- In 2007, Joshi won the National Award for Best Lyrics for Taare Zameen Par. He won the second one for Chittagong in 2013.
- Recently, his verses in Neerja’s songs were also loved. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2015.
- Prasoon Joshi is also very vocal and known for putting forth his opinion on current issues.
