Adgully Exclusive | The dirty outcome of "The Dirty Picture"

"The Dirty Picture" the autobiographical film that won three national awards as well as one for Best Actress, was stalled from being viewed. An order that came in at the nth hour came as a total shocker given that the channel had, after 58 cuts, 36 of which were cut by the producer himself, and 22 as suggested by the Board, previously secured clearance from the Bombay High Court, before obtaining the Censor Board's U/A certification to make it suitable for prime-time telecast.

Fortunately, the channel, Sony Pictures, had begun showing the promos which were accompanied by the U/A symbol. The channel was supposed to show the movie on Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 12.00 PM and 8.00 PM. The channel had undertaken massive promotion for over a month. But when the I&B ministry notice came on Saturday night, it made it impossible for the channel to find a legal solution. Sony Pictures then ran a scroll saying: "For unavoidable reasons, we regret to inform that the film The Dirty Picture will not be telecast today. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted."

Tanuj Garg, CEO of Balaji Telefilms said with an apology that the cuts in the film were made keeping in mind the larger audience as well as the integral story and creativity of the film itself.

Chandermohan, an ex NSD and a senior actor at present in the seril "Subh Vivah" finds this move unprofessional. He is vocal in saying that once the clearance was obtained from the court, it is just not fair that the ministry should stall the viewing. This also amount to cowing down undue pressures from certain corners which don't have the film interest at heart. While director Karan Johar calls it hypocritical, Farhan Akthar calls it shameful.

Produced by Ekta Kapoor at a Rs 32 crore (including promotional activities), the film is based on the life of the late Sexy Siren from South, Silk Smitha, collected 79 crores at the BO. Meanwhile, the film was sold to Sony by Balaji as part of a bouquet deal for Rs 9 crore. Now with the losses by the sponsors not to mention a hit to its image in the competitive GEC market, Sony now has a rough road ahead. According to industry buzz, Sony may stand to lose all revenues as they might have to refund advertisers and also Balaji Telefilms. "Both the parties may have to re-negotiating the rights. This could also affect the future of satellite telecast of forthcoming movies adult movies.

MSM, which runs Balalji Telefilms and Sony TV, spent an estimated Rs 8 crore to buy exclusive satellite television telecast rights for five years.

Because of its BO success, Sony Pictures had extensive on-air promotions and marketing campaigns across print and billboards to lure viewers.

Media planners say that the channel sold airtime rates around Rs 1.3 lakh-1.5 lakh for 10 seconds, while sponsors who take long-term, bouquet packages with the broadcaster were lighter by Rs 80,000-90,000 for 10 seconds each.

Given the hype around the film, media buyers said the The Dirty Picture could have secured a TRP rating of 4-7 compared to an average rating of 2-2.5 of a successful movie on television.

Pankaja Thakur, CEO, CBFC said that they only asked Sony Pictures to ensure there was Parental Guidance. "Our job ends with certifying the film. We have nothing to do with the timings etc¦"

Meanwhile some voices say an adult film on a General Entertainment Channel also means losses in sponsorship deals as also viewership. An industry expert revealed that Sony had lost a lot of TRP in their serial Bade Achche Lagte Hain, because of some unsavoury scenes. They need to be careful and push their luck too far. As it is, all channels have been forced to run a scroller that says viewers who find any objectionable content, could alert the Broadcasting Content Complaint Council or IBF."

Producer-director Vinod Pande of the cult film "Ek Baar Phir" fame, one of the boldest films in its time says "that such a move is detrimental to makers like us and some action need to be taken keeping the interest of both the film maker as well as the law makers in mind"

Meanwhile Silk can wait...