Subhash K Jha (DNA; July 8, 2016)

With ‘censor copies’ of recent films like Udta Punjab and Great Grand Masti being “leaked” on the internet way before their scheduled releases, the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) has taken a decision to ban the submission of films on the DVD format for censor certification.

Films now have to be submitted to the CBFC on the DCP format (digital cinema projection). Says CBFC’s chair Pahlaj Nihalani, “We had many complaints about DVD prints marked ‘Censor Copy’ being leaked online. Firstly, the censor copy was made by the producers, not us. So, the leak could be sourced to any place from the point where the producers make copies. But we have stopped that procedure. We now watch films on the digital format. So there is no censor copy made for us.”

So why are online leaks of some recent films carrying the ‘Censor Copy’ watermark? “Not for us. But the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal, known as the Tribunal, still requires a DVD copy,” informs Nihalani.