Revealed: The Real Reason Why Mersal In Telugu Was Not Released
While it is being speculated that the Censor Board has played the villain in the release of the Telugu version of Mersal it now comes to light that the film’s producers have themselves elected to hold back the release in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana .
Says an informed source close to the development, “Athrindhi, the Telugu version of Mersal was always meant to open after the Tamil version. But when all the controversies and clamour to ban the film erupted, the release of Athrindhi was further held back.”
According the sources the producers now plan to release more than 800 prints of the Telugu version.
CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi clarifies that the CBFC has nothing to do with the delay of the Telugu version. “Why would we cause any delay?The process of censorship takes time. That process should be respected. Having said that,we must be very clear on this: there are no cuts in the Telugu version. The Tamil and Telugu versions are exactly the same.”
Says the former CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani, “This is a typical illustration of how the CBFC is used to get publicity for a film. All the version of a multi-lingual film are viewed separately but certified one after another.So there is no question of the Telugu version remaining uncertified for weeks after the release of the Tamil version.Someone somewhere is trying to make mileage out of the controversies surrounding this film. If the producers expected Mersal to make 200 crores they now expect 450 crores. ”