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While Tagore relinquished her office recently,her stance at the appointment of her successor is restrained. “You do not necessarily have to be associated with the film industry to be appointed to this post,” she says,adding that she had suggested the names of Tom Alter,Sandip Ray and Rahul Bose,“since everyone was baying for young blood”. Thankfully,she isn’t diplomatic. “There is a difference between censoring films and working at Kalakshetra. One requires a different sensibility to take charge of this position. Initially,Samson will have to win people’s hearts at the Censor Board and then things will iron out,” she adds.

As far as sensibility to judge films is concerned,Samson says,“There is definitely a lack of dialogue between the two genres– classical dance and cinema. But there is no reason why one should be exclusive of the other since it all stems from the same sanskar,” says Samson.

On the other hand,Bharatnatayam exponent Malavika Sarrukai feels that Samson is being burdened with a lot of responsibility. “This position comes with responsibility and expectations from a a fraternity with which she has not really worked. She already has Kalakshetra and SNA to handle. This will require a lot of energy from her and we just have to wait and watch,” she says.

Not oblivious to the uncertainty of voices around her,Samson agrees that she has her hands full with the Chairmanship of two very important organisations that require her undivided attention. “With the kind of commitment and responsibility I have to these organisations,being a Censor Board chair will definitely add much more and that definitely has me thinking. But I am hoping for the best judgment to prevail.”

On her side are certainly those who refuse to be be skeptical. National award-winning filmmaker Shyam Benegal believes that a knowledge of cinema is not required to take up this post since there are designated guidelines for censoring films. “A Censor Board chief does not critique films,their job is to ensure the sensibilities of the film fall within the prescribed guidelines. As long as a person has an open and liberal mindset,there should not be any hassles,” says Benegal.