Last updated on 15 March 2025.
If you are going to a theatre in India, you must know beforehand whether you are allowed to watch a movie or not. Do you know the difference between a UA and an A certificate? Let’s make things clear. Here’s everything you to know about the Indian Film Rating System by CBFC.
Who gives Film Certificates in India?
A movie can influence a person or a group in a lot of ways. Maybe the action scenes in it have so much violence that it is not suitable for kids. Maybe the story of the movie is too sensitive for the general public.
That’s why the Indian Government requires any movie to get a film certification before it is exhibited on the cinema screen.
It is the duty of CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) to issue film certificates in India. They operate under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Indian government.
Their headquarters is in Mumbai but they also have more offices in all the big cities of the country.
However, they are commonly referred to as “Censor Board” because before certifying a film, the board is known to censor (modify or delete) some scenes out of it.
Indian Film Ratings (U, U/A and A) Explained
There are 4 Film Certificates defined for movies to be shown in India: U, UA, A, and S.
But in 2023, the Cinematograph Bill was amended by the Lok Sabha. They added 3 new sub-categories to the UA ratings: 7+, 13+ and 16+.
This might be becoming confusing for you, so here is a simple explainer of all film ratings:
- ‘U’ certificate: Unrestricted Public Exhibition meaning anyone can watch it. The theme of such movies is usually family-friendly and doesn’t contain violence or a single frame of intimate scenes.
- ‘UA’ certificate: Anyone can watch it but parents are kids are advised to watch this movie with parental guidance. These films can contain violent action setpieces with some intimate scenes allowed.
- ‘A’ certificate: Only Adults, 18 years or older, can watch it. Strong violence scenes, longer sexual scenes nudity and abusive language are allowed.
- ‘S’ certificate: These movies are only made for a ‘Special’ group of people like Doctors or Scientists.
Remember that in any of the cases, nudity is strictly not allowed. Also, hateful or degrading words against any community don’t go through the censor board.
There is an interesting instance of such hard restrictions when Oppenheimer was released in India. It was initially given an A certificate but also asked to remove all the scenes with nudity.
So, the studio edited such shots and even added CGI clothes on the actress in one of the scenes. Then, they were given the UA certificate.
Difference between UA and A movies
The U rating is the simplest to understand: there are no restrictions. You can go with your kids without any worry.
But people get confused between UA and A all the time. So, here’s the difference:
UA is similar to U (a person of any age can watch the movie) but only parental guidance is recommended. It means parents are cautioned that such films might contain some unsuitable scenes for kids.
Then comes A certificate, which is also easy to understand. You are only given entry inside the theatre if you are 18 years or older. Cinema management might ask for your identity card (like AADHAR, PAN or Voter ID) to verify your age.
Examples can be that Dangal Got U, Ragini MMS 2 Got A, and Hrithik Roshan’s War movie got a U/A certificate.
What is UA 16+, 13+ 7+ Film Certification?
As I mentioned above, a person of any age can watch a UA movie.
The only thing that makes it different is that the censor board tells you that such films contain some hard violence or mild intimate scenes. So, if you are thinking of taking your children, you are made aware of this in advance.
Now, it’s your decision, as a parent or guardian. Earlier the general suggestion was 12 years. But now it has been divided into 3 brackets: UA 7+, UA 13+, and UA 16+.
For example, let’s take UA 16+. Some of the recent films are given this certificate especially because of the extreme nature of its fight scenes. Here, CBFC is just informing parents that the movie might not be appropriate for children younger than 16 years of age.
Note that these age requirements are only recommendations; they are not mandatory.
It’s just a simple Caution Warning for the parents. It’s NOT like you are required to accompany your kids to the movie theatre. They can go by themselves and you can take your little kids too, even if they are under 16 years.
What is an R-rated movie in India?
R-rating is one of the movie ratings issued in the USA. Generally, an R-rated movie in the USA gets an A certificate in India.
These movies have ‘adult’ themes with more violent and sexual scenes. Examples are Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Delhi Belly (2011), and Deadpool (2016).
However, the difference is just how stricter the rule is in India compared to the USA. In India, anyone under the age of 18 cannot watch an A-rated movie in any circumstance. But in the USA, kids can watch an R-rated film if they are with their parents.
If you want a right comparison, A certificate in India is more similar to the NC-17 rating in the US where no one under the age of 17 is allowed to watch it.
How films are certified in India?
Any movie in India should first be certified by CBFC before the public can see it. First, the producer has to submit the application to one of the regional offices.
Then, a committee is appointed who watch the movie and give certify it. The committee might suggest deleting or modifying some scenes. Then after the approval of the changes by a revising committee, the movie is allowed for public exhibition.
Takeaways
So now you know about the Indian movie ratings by the Censor Board. Hope I made things easier for you.
And if you don’t know who I am? I am Ranish Chauhan a.k.a. Fulmino Fan, and I love Marvel & DC Superheroes, Sci-Fi and Hollywood movies. You can also check my YouTube channel for amazing videos in Hindi.