Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; May 24, 2014)

Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly may finally release in cinema halls. The filmmaker has decided to continue with his fight against inserting disclaimers in smoking scenes of the film but he wants the producers of the film to release the film.

Anurag says, "The film’s producers have stood by me throughout but I don’t want to delay the film any more because so much is at stake. I will soon make a presentation for the new government to consider as the court has given me such an option". It maybe recalled here that Kashyap had challenged the notification that made it mandatory for filmmakers to put anti-smoking disclaimers during smoking scenes in a film. In his petition, the filmmaker pleaded for the rule to be set aside.

In response to this, the Central Board of Film Certification restrained the filmmaker from releasing the film Ugly after which he moved court in December. But the court did not give him any interim relief and instead asked him to make a presentation before the central government.

Vivek Rangachari of Dar Motion Pictures, which is co-producing Ugly, says, “ We are in the process of finalising the film’s release date. Our fight will go on but we will comply with the board’s directives and insert the no smoking disclaimer as we don’t want to delay the film’s release." Ugly, earlier slated to release on October 11 last year, is also releasing in France sometime in June.

Rangachari says, “Internationally, the film will see a limited release; we plan to release the film a little later in India.’’