The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday (September 29) reacted to Tamil actor Vishal's allegations against the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) calling it "extremely unfortunate".
The Tamil actor alleged that the CBFC in Mumbai took a bribe of Rs 6.5 lakh for the censor certification of the Hindi version of his film Mark Antony.
Taking a serious note of his accusations, the government ordered a probe into the matter. A senior officer from MIB has also been deputed to Mumbai to investigate further, the I&B Ministry informed on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday morning.
"The issue of corruption in CBFC brought forth by actor @VishalKOfficial is extremely unfortunate. The Government has zero tolerance for corruption and strictest action will be taken against anyone found involved. A senior officer from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has been deputed to Mumbai to conduct an inquiry today itself," MIB's tweet read.
"We request everyone to cooperate with the Ministry, by providing information about any other instance of harassment by CBFC at jsfilms.inb@nic.in," it further read.
On September 28, Vishal took to his official X account and shared a video in which he accused the CBFC officials of demanding a bribe of Rs 6.5 lakh in exchange for screening and granting a U/A certificate to his film.
"#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 #MarkAntonyHindi version. 2 transactions. 3 Lakhs for screening and 3.5 Lakhs for certificate," he wrote.
He had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the matter.
"Never faced this situation ever in my career. Had no option but to pay the concerned mediator #Menaga coz too much at stake since movie released today. Bringing this to the notice of Hon Chief Minister of Maharashtra and my Hon PM Narendra Modiji. 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.
However, the officials from CBFC are yet to respond to Vishal's allegations.
