The central government took cognizance of the alleged corruption in the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Friday and initiated an inquiry into the claim by Tamil actor Vishal that he paid ₹6.5 lakh bribe to obtain censor certification of the Hindi version of his film ‘Mark Antony’.
The information and broadcasting ministry said senior officials have been deputed to probe further on the “unfortunate” issue of corruption brought forth by actor Vishal.
On Thursday, Vishal took to social media platform X to share a video claiming that he paid a bribe of ₹6.5 lakh to get a censor certificate from the CBFC before the release of the Hindi version of his film Mark Antony.
Citing the “issue of corruption” in the CBFC alleged by Vishal, the top ministry wrote that it was extremely unfortunate. “The Government has zero tolerance for corruption and strictest action will be taken against anyone found involved,” wrote the ministry.
The ministry added, “A senior officer from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has been deputed to Mumbai to conduct an inquiry today itself.”
Tagging Producers Guild of India and Motion Pictures Association, the ministry urged everyone to cooperate by providing information about other instances of harrasment by CBFC at jsfilms.inb@nic.in.
On Thursday, Vishal dropped the video alleging that officials from the CBFC demanded a bribe of ₹6.5 lakh in exchange for screening and granting a U/A certificate to his film.
The actor wrote, “#Corruption being shown on silver screen is fine. But not in real life. Cant digest. Especially in govt offices. And even worse happening in #CBFC Mumbai office. Had to pay 6.5 lacs for my film #MarkAntony Hindi version. 2 transactions. 3 Lakhs for screening and 3.5 Lakhs for certificate.”
Appealing to Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the matter, he wrote, “Doing this is not for me but for future producers. NOT HAPPENING. My hard earned money gone for corruption ??? No way. Evidence down for all to hear. Hope truth prevails as always. GB,” Vishal added.
The CBFC is yet to comment on the allegations made by the actor.
