By Hindustan Times
After weeks of promotions on Sony Entertainment Television, the telecast of The Dirty Picture, which was scheduled for Sunday from 12-4pm and a repeat from 8-11pm, was cancelled abruptly in an overnight decision. This came after the ministry for info and broadcasting notified the channel only a day before the telecast.
Shocked with the sudden turn of events, director Milan Luthria retorts, “I don’t what’s happening on this country! How can they do this? To make the film fit for TV viewing, we re-edited it with 59 cuts or even obtained a U/A certificate from the censor board.”
VidyaTanuj Garg, CEO Balaji Telefilms adds, “It is unfortunate that even after a sound U/A certificate from the CBFC and all of the cuts in place, the telecast was stopped. We're distressed for the reason that that is a number of the most celebrated and loved films of last year.”
A distressed Ekta Kapoor, when contacted, replied via text message, “Too upset, can’t talk,” while the channel’s spokesperson remained unavailable for comment. Reportedly, the hasty decision cost the channel an enormous lack of business after buying the rights for Rs. 8 crore.
Industry sources claim that the cause of the eleventh-hour decision was the truth that the I&B ministry received numerous complaints against airing of TDP throughout the daytime.
While the producers and director were rather enraged, we asked our surfers whether or not they were proud of the verdict and the massive response revealed quite an in depth call.
We asked:
The Dirty Picture on TV with 59 cuts is not any fun. Do you agree?
And the surfers replied:
A. No, the film is just too explicit for TV - 50%
B. Yes, I WANT to observe the entire movie without cuts 44%
C. I WANT to look at the movie but with cuts after primetime 6%
As may also be seen, the margin between A and B could be very small. What's interesting is that while we were tracking the consequences inside the day, in the course of the first half, more surfers appeared to be in favour of Option A.
