Two days before its scheduled release date,’Udta Punjab’ has been leaked online. The film that is available online bears a watermark that read ‘For Censor’ and is without any cuts.
While the obvious suspicion falls over the Censor Board, there is really no possible way to know as to who the actual culprit until the police gives us a conclusive answer. At the onset the leak does appear to a classic case of revenge porn. Not being able to have its way with the makers, the Censor Board has decided to go all out and cut the wings of the film even before it hits the theatres. It seems that the Board has clearly taken the public outrage personally this time. Not being able to have his way, Nihalani or someone from the board decided to hit the producers where it hurts the most: monetarily.
The CBFC had refused to give a certification to the film and had demanded 89 cuts citing the film was ‘anti-Punjab’ and vulgar in nature. What followed was a very public battle between the film’s producer Anurag Kashyap and CBFC with Kashyap calling Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani a ‘bully’.
The film was finally ‘rescued’ due to timely intervention by Bombay High Court which ordered the CBFC to provide a certificate to the makers with only two changes and one cut. When the makers were just breathing a sigh of relief after a weeklong tedious legal battle, came the news of the film getting leaked online.
Fortunately for them, the damage control happened within hours. When the news spread and most rushed home/ or to nearest computer to download the film, they found all the links to be either blocked or fake.
This though is not the first time that a film has been leaked prior to its commercial release. Films like ‘Maajhi’, ‘Chintu Ji’ and the recent ‘Sairat’ have all been victims of piracy. And unlike ‘Udta Punjab’, there was no way to know which copy got leaked by whom.
In 2013, a copy of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty leaked online with the watermark that read ‘Property of Ellen Degeneres’, right before the film’s release. Naturally, all suspicions were on people working in Degeneres’ production. Once investigated, it turned out that hackers had added the watermark to confuse the investigators.
Interestingly, when a film is sent out to various critics, film personalities and censor board for viewing, the watermark is added by the production unit itself.
In 2009, Hugh Jackman starrer ‘XMen Origin: Wolverine’ was available on Torrent a month before the release. Initial investigations suggested that it was either someone within the studio who leaked it or a third-party production house contracted to work on the film.
If the censor board has actually leaked the film online, they have done it without any cuts. Something that they have repeatedly wanted in the film. Oh, the irony!
Whether the board leaked the film or a smart alec decided to defame the board by putting that watermark is something that perhaps we will not know ever. Amid confusions, police complaint (the makers have file a case against unknown person) and a lot of accusations, one thing is clear; the Censor Board is the new villain in Indian cinema and it has a lot of muck to clear up.
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