The regulation of female sexuality in film has always been central to defining India's national identity.
In 1954, 13,000 women of Delhi presented a petition to Jawaharlal Nehru asking him to curb the evil influence of films as it made their children play hooky from school, acquire precocious sex habits, and indulge in vices. Responding to this petition, the prime minister stated: "Films have an essential part to play in the modern world. At the same time it is true that any powerful medium like motion pictures has a good effect and a bad effect. We have to take care therefore that we emphasise the good aspect of it."
For Nehru, films were linked to the project of modernisation. However, this technological medium and its owners needed to be subordinated to the state so they did not work against the interests of the government. This concept of film censorship, along with the requisite routines and procedures, was established by British colonial administrators ostensibly to guard the morals of the natives and to prevent them from sinking into depravity, religious bigotry and/or ethnic strife.
In 1918, despite objections on grounds of liberty from the Indian members, the country's legislative council passed the first Cinematographic Act which addressed the licensing of cinema houses and the certification of films declared suitable for public exhibition. In 1920, Boards of Film Censors were set up in Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Rangoon. At first, these boards functioned without any rigid rules—later the Bombay Board drew up a list of suggestions in the form of the General Principles of Film Censorship for guiding the Inspectors of Films. These rules were based on the censorship rules drawn up by the British Board of Film Censors.