Shocked with the sudden turn of events, director Milan Luthria retorts, “I don’t what’s happening in this country! How can they do that? To make the film fit for TV viewing, we re-edited it with 59 cuts and even obtained a U/A certificate from the censor board.”
VidyaTanuj Garg, CEO Balaji Telefilms adds, “It is unfortunate that even after a valid U/A certificate from the CBFC and all the cuts in place, the telecast was stopped. We are distressed given that this is among 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 a huge loss of business after buying the rights for Rs. 8 crore.
Industry sources claim that the reason for the eleventh-hour decision was the fact that the I&B ministry received numerous complaints against airing of TDP during the daytime.
While the producers and director were rather enraged, we asked our surfers whether they were happy with the decision and the huge response revealed quite a close call.
We asked:
The Dirty Picture on TV with 59 cuts is no fun. Do you agree?
And the surfers replied:
A. No, the film is too explicit for TV - 50%
B. Yes, I would like to watch the full movie without cuts 44%
C. I would like to watch the movie but with cuts after primetime 6%
As can be seen, the margin between A and B is very small. What's interesting is that while we were tracking the results throughout the day, during the fi
rst half, more surfers seemed to be in favour of Option A.
