Censor clears 'The Dirty Picture' for TV prime time

New Delhi: The Censor Board has cleared Vidya Balan-starrer 'The Dirty Picture' for prime time television viewing but with several additional cuts.

The I&B ministry had earlier in April this year barred entertainment channel Sony from screening the movie which had got Universial/Adult certification from the Censor Board for its "bold" scenes.

"The filmmakers of 'The Dirty Picture' again approached the Central Board of Film Certification with voluntary deletions of additional 3 minutes and 10 seconds under rule 33 of the Cinematograph Act," a senior official said.

The Censor Board has cleared Vidya Balan-starrer \'The Dirty Picture\' for prime time television viewing but with several additional cuts.

"The Board allowed them to make those deletions and made the endorsement to that effect on the film's certificate. The film can now be shown during general viewing hours on television," the official added.

The voluntary deletions, which have been carried out by the filmmakers in the film now, are in addition to the 59 cuts that had been made earlier in the film when it was given U/A rating by the Censor Board.

Sources said TV channel Sony, which had run promos of the film's telecast on prime time in April this year before being stopped by the I&B ministry, had asked the producers of the movie to go for more cuts to ensure that the movie can be telecast during prime time.

Officials said that under the rule 33 of the Cinematographic Act, filmmakers can re-submit their films for certification after making certain additions or deletions to the films.

In normal circumstances, changes which amount to an addition or deletion of upto 5 to 7 minutes are allowed and the Board certifies the new version of the movie.

The I&B ministry had to step in to stop screening of "The Dirty Picture" on prime time TV after an April 19 order of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had asked the ministry to ensure that the telecast of The movie did not violate guidelines.

The I&B ministry had then turned to the CBFC for advice which had said the UA certificate given to 'The Dirty Picture' after several cuts meant that parental guidance was a must.

The CBFC had also asked the ministry to tell all channels, which are "planning to telecast 'UA' rated movies in near future", to do so only after 11 pm.

"After 'The Dirty Picture' episode, the Censor board has, while rating movies as U/A, even set a condition on their certificates that the movie would not be screened before 11 pm, officials said.

The senior official said the Censor Board had in the past consistently felt that the spirit of its certification had to be maintained and there should be a mechanism in which in U/A rated films viewrs should be apprised of the need for parental guidance.

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