Share of U-rated films highest in Malayalam, lowest in Bhojpuri: Data

India’s censorship panels received approximately 18,000 film certificates between 2017-2025, and ratings reveal sharp contrasts between film industries. Among the big ones, Malayalam Cinema emerged as the biggest “family friendly ve in this period, and the biggest share of U -graded certificates, and then Tamil films are closely.

At the other end of the spectrum, Bhojpuri films had the smallest rate of U -graded versions. In fact, Bhojpuri was the only Indian language where a lower share of films was lower than British cinema – unusual reversal.

These results are based on data collected by CBFC Watch, an independent research project dedicated to investigating film censorship actions in India. Film certificates are widely divided into three groups – only adults (a), unlimited and parental guidance of all ages (U)/General audience (UA).

The analysis includes more than 60 minutes of films, short films and music videos. Considering this one hour cut, it makes sense to assume that most of these cases are full length feature films.

The following graph shows the share of films ( % %), which are rated as U/A and A in each language period in 2017 and 2025.

More A rated movie in Telugu and Kannada

In the case of A-graded content, only two of the telugu and kannada language films have passed 10% sign-only two of the Hin languages. However, in India, certified English films were generally located on the top of the list and more than 16% had an adult degree. Among the films of Tamil and Malayalam, the share of A -graded titles was below 7%.

The above findings focus on big film industries, including smaller industries, while changing the picture slightly. Odia cinema emerges as the most family friend, about 42% of her films. Only 1.2% of Odia films were ranked as only 2.3% in all languages ​​as Gujarati. The number of films published in these two languages ​​is relatively lower compared.

It should be noted that a Tamil film Odia Dub is considered as an ODIA version in this analysis. The same applies to other languages. Moreover, when the same film is launched in different languages, there are different ratings. In such cases, versions are considered as separate films, because the certification itself is the focus of this study.

Interestingly, most Indian films are rated as U/A. In each language, more than 50% of the films are rated as U/A.

The open source database developed by diagramchasing.fun can be accessible here https://cbfc.watch/

vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in