The Information & Broadcasting Ministry, after the halted telecast of The Dirty Picture at prime time,

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The Information & Broadcasting Ministry, after the halted telecast of The Dirty Picture at prime time, is likely to recommend the 11 pm slot for U/A films. Will this mean revenue constraints for producers?

The Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s directive to show The Dirty Picture at 11 pm created a furore amongst channels and filmmakers. However, this is not the first time a film with an ‘adult’ theme has been directed by the ministry to be telecast at 11 pm. A few months ago, Ragini MMS, despite cuts was shown at 11 pm, though Ekta Kapoor, who produced the film apparently vied for the 9 pm slot. At the time of going to press, a meeting had been called to discuss the suitable time for telecasting films with an U/A certificate. A source from the I & B ministry said that there will be a recommendation to show such films at 11 pm. But it may not be something that will go down well with the channels, which dish out huge monies ranging from Rs 2 – 40 crore for the satellite rights of films. An industry insider, who deals with buying and selling of the satellite rights, says, “If films with ‘adult’ themes are shown at 11 pm, the prices will easily reduce by 60-70 per cent. For instance, The Dirty Picture, which was sold at Rs 9 crore will come down to Rs 3 – 4 crore. Forthcoming films like Jannat 2, Raaz 3, Vicky Donor, Jism 2 etc will not fetch a huge amount if shown at 11 pm.” According to him, historically such films don’t rate high on TV, anyway. “Only the first telecast brings them decent TRPs,” he quips. Shyam Shroff, one of the leading film distributors, is of the view that films with adult content should be shown in the original version at 10 pm, which will not affect the prices. “But 59 cuts (The Dirty Picture) and 11 pm will certainly bring down revenue,” he agrees. However, Mukesh Bhatt, who is producing Raaz 3 and Jannat 2, feels that one film (The Dirty Picture) cannot be the yardstick for others. “There has to be a rationale behind it. If a film has a U/A certificate, it’s for universal viewing, but elders have to take responsibility and stop their children from watching it,” he argues. Dheeraj Kumar, Vice-President, Film and TV Producers Guild, points out that channels will think twice before touching films with an ‘adult’ theme. “It will have negative repercussions,” he says. However, while making the film itself, the producer can ensure that he makes money at the box-office as well as on TV, offers Kumar. “He can create a theatrical version and a TV version in which the scenes are acceptable to the TV viewing public,” he contends. All eyes are on the I & B Ministry now for the new guidelines. As a source says, “Such incidents are required for the market to mature and government to regulate things.”