Too ‘adult’, says I&B Ministry; could spell trouble for film’s satellite rights
It created quite a stir when the filmmakers boldly announced that they were making an ‘adult’ film. Almost courting an A-rating, the Bhatts went ahead and cast Sunny Leone as leading lady along with Randeep Hooda and Arunoday Singh for their upcoming film Jism 2. But after releasing the uncensored promo of the film online on Friday morning – and getting over half a million views on day one – the film has hit a roadblock: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) and the Indian Broadcasters’ Forum (IBF) have decided that the promo is too sizzling to hit the airwaves. In other words, it cannot be aired on television. This is a huge blow because, not only does television as a medium of advertising have maximum reach, the move also puts the satellite rights of the film in jeopardy.
This is not the first time a Hindi film has run into trouble over adult content – after being certified by the Censor Board. Not so long ago, the I&B Ministry stalled the screening of ‘A’ films during prime time, relegating them to the post-11 pm slot and also subjecting them to further cuts.
Remember when Sony Entertainment Television was barred from airing Vidya Balan’s A-certified film The Dirty Picture on TV at the afternoon and 9 pm slots? However, this is the first time a film’s promo has been axed from television.
A few weeks ago, director Pooja Bhatt was assigned an ‘A’ certificate for the first music promo of the film. At the time, Bhatt vented her ire on a micro-blogging site, saying, “First music promo for # Jism2 has been given an ‘A’ certificate. And this was what one would call a truly watered down version. So the deal is this – You can’t buy spots on TV for a promo with an ‘A’ certificate. Which basically means you can’t publicise your music! (sic).” Another song from the film, titled Abhi abhi was granted a U/A certificate even though it did not include a single adult scene, she claimed.
How will the scenario for the TV promo unfold? At this point, we’ll just have to wait and… er…watch?
