CBFC Corruption Row: Mark Anthony Actor Vishal Claims Corruption in CBFC, I&B Ministry Orders Probe

On September 29, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting replied to allegations of corruption made against the CBFC in Mumbai by Tamil actor Vishal. The ministry described the occurrence as "extremely unfortunate" and announced that a senior officer has been sent to Mumbai to launch an investigation. Mark Antony actor Vishal has said that they paid a bribe of Rs 6.5 lakh to the Central Board of Film Certification to obtain a censor certificate before the release of the Hindi version of the movie. He added that he had all the evidence to support his accusations. Addressing PM Narendra Modi, and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Vishal said, "We applied for a certificate online and we had to come in at the last minute due to some technical issue. But, we were taken aback by what happened at the CBFC office in Mumbai. When my person visited the office, we were given an option to pay the price of Rs. 6.5 lakh and get the certification the same day. We were left with no option." Mark Antony was released on September 15 in Tamil; the Hindi version followed on September 28.