Ministry of Information and Broadcasting responds to actor Vishal's corruption charges on CBFC, assures 'strictest action'

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has finally reacted to actor Vishal's corruption charges on the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Mumbai. The government body expressed its displeasure and assured strictest action to be taken against the people involved.

Hyderabad:Following actor Vishal K's allegation of corruption in the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Mumbai, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has dived into action. The Ministry on Friday responded via a tweet on its official X handle, taking into account his complaint. This comes a day after the Mark Antony actor brought to notice officials seeking a bribe for the Hindi censor of the said film.

Responding to the Tamil actor's plea on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting tweeted: "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."

In his complaint, Vishal said that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Mumbai took a bribe of Rs 6.5 lakh for the censor certification of his film Mark Antony in Hindi. On Thursday, he took to X and released a video in which he claimed CBFC officials of seeking payment of Rs 6.5 lakh in exchange for screening and awarding his film a U/A certificate. He requested that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Prime Minister Narendra Modi investigate the situation.

Along with a video message, his tweet read: "#Corruption on the silver screen is fine. But not in real life. Cant digest. Particularly in government offices. And even worse happening in #CBFC Mumbai office. I had to spend Rs 6.5 lacs for the Hindi version of my film #MarkAntony. There were two transactions. 3 lakhs for screening and 3.5 lakhs for certificate. I've never faced a situation like this in my career. Because the movie was released today, I had no choice except to pay the concerned mediator #Menaga. I'm bringing this to the attention of Maharashtra's Hon. Chief Minister and my Hon. Prime Minister, Narendra Modiji. This is not for myself, 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.

Mark Antony is a science fiction action comedy film that came out on September 15. Adhik Ravichandran directed it, while S Vinod Kumar produced it through Mini Studio. Vishal and S J Suryah play dual roles in the film.