Smriti Out, But Prasoon Joshi Stays, Rumours Of His Ouster Baseless

Rumours doing the rounds in the parliamentary corridors of Prasoon Joshi’s exit as the chairperson of the Censor Board Of Film Certification(CBFC) are described by informed sources as basless and malicious.

In the seven months that Prasoon Joshi has served as the chairperson of the CBFC he has endeared himself to not just his colleagues but also the Prime Minister himself.

Proof of Prasoon popularity in the PM”s perception? Prasoon coordinated PM Modi’s interactive session in London in April and regaled not just the British Asians with his flair for rhetorics and poetry but also impressed the PM himself.

Says an informed source from the BJP, “Prasoon’s appointment as the CBFC chairperson was a direct appointment from the PM’s office. It wasn’t the former I & B minister Smriti Irani who invited Prasoon to take over the CBFC from Pahlaj Nihalani .Prasoon was the PM’s choice. After the appointment Prasoon’s handling of the censor-related issues specially Padmaavat and then the display of his coordinating skills at the PM’s interactive session in London have further strengthened Prasoon’s position in the PM’s office.”

Sources in the the know say the new I & B Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore has been advised to work in close contact with Prasoon Joshi to solve the problems which plague the entertainment industry.

“First on the agenda is a completely paperwork-free censoring of films. The issue of monitoring the muck on the digital platform also needs to be tackled,” says the source.