‘The Dirty Picture’ screening on TV stalled, courtesy I&B ministry

Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: Looks like 58 cuts in the ‘The Dirty Picture’ were not good enough for I&B Ministry to allow the film to run on TV. A popular entertainment channel was supposed to telecast the super hit film of 2011 today at 12 noon, but unfortunately, the channel had to stall it because of ‘unavoidable reasons’. The channel ran a note which read, “For unavoidable reasons we regret to inform that the film 'The Dirty Picture’ will not be telecast today. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.” Earlier, the Information and Broadcast Ministry had told the concerned channel that it could air this A-rated ‘Dirty Picture’ only after prime time, that`s post 11 pm. Director Milan Luthria, who helmed 'The Dirty Picture', is shocked and disappointed after the television premiere of his film was stalled at the last minute despite the movie being submitted with 58 cuts. "I am shocked and disappointed that this decision was taken at the last moment. For the last two months we have been working on this and as per the rule few scenes had to be cut to get the U/A certificate. Don't harass us like this," Luthria told reporters. One of the lead actors of the film, Tusshar Kapoor tweeted, "Sad that inspite of being acclaimed for it`s entertaining realism & having won 3 National Awards the regulatory forces have stalled the show.” "In light of recent events that exposed the dark side of Bollywood, `The Dirty Picture` was well timed as it depicts a similar harsh reality”, Tusshar added. Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar too is surprised and calls it "hypocrisy". "A national award winning film cannot have a national telecast??? this is not an irony but plain and simple hypocrisy!!!! #dirtypicture. If the censorship is not a final authority then what is??? Complicated and blurred lines defeat the core of democracy!!!! #dirtypicture," Karan tweeted. The channel was supposed to telecast the film at 12 noon on Sunday. But seems like we need to wait for the World TV Premiere of ‘The Dirty Picture’! (With IANS Inputs)