Alleging corruption in the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) office in Mumbai, actor-producer Vishal appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to intervene and take action. The actor alleged that he had to pay a bribe of Rs 6.5 lakh to get a censor certificate for the Hindi dubbed version of his film Mark Antony, which was released on Thursday, September 28.
Following the release, the actor on the same day said that he had to pay Rs 6.5 lakh in two transactions to get the censor certificate– Rs 3 lakh for watching the film and the rest for giving the certificate. The actor who desperately wanted the film to release in Hindi and bank on the upcoming holidays, said that he had no option but to pay the bribe. The actor revealed the name of one Menaga who allegedly oversaw the transaction. Quoting Menaga, he said that a bribe of Rs 4 lakh was asked to be paid at the CBFC for getting a certification within 15 days, and Rs 6.5 lakh for receiving the film certificate immediately.
“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 ???” (sic) the actor wrote on social media platform X, sharing a video about the alleged corruption.
“It is a sad thing. If this is the case in government offices I really request the higher officials to look into the matter. If this is my situation what about the other producers who are affected by it?” Vishal said in the video . The actor also shared the transaction details as evidence for his allegations. While Rs 3 lakh was sent to one M Rajan, Rs 3.5 lakh was sent to Jeeja Ramdas, as per Vishal’s claims.
Responding to the allegations leveled by Vishal, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday, September 29, said that they will take action against the corrupt officials.
“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. We request everyone to cooperate with the Ministry, by providing information about any other instance of harassment by CBFC at jsfilms.inb@nic.in,” the Ministry shared on X.