Adult certificate eats DTBHJ's 20% business

They first knocked off the 's' word and even the 'v' word (virginity) from the promos. Now they've restricted his film's audience by giving it an Adults Only certificate.

Madhur Bhandarkar is livid with the censors. Though he quietly accepted the 'Adults Only' certificate from the censor board for his new film Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (DTBHJ), the director now feels that the film got labeled an Adults film because his reputation precedes his cinema. DTBHJ opened to a relatively smaller crowd because kids and families stayed away.

Says a source close to the harried filmmaker, "The film lost twenty percent of its audience because of the Adult rating. The minute the audience hears a film is for Adults Only and that it's a sex comedy, the families stay away. I don't mean to question the censors' decision. But I wonder how DTBHJ qualifies as adult entertainment?! It's a harmless and entertaining look at courtship and romance in the metropolis. What is shocking about three guys looking for female company?"

Interestingly, Bhandarkar's film has no lewd references or double meanings, no shots of cleavages and thighs. "There were scores of situations in the script where I could've put in some off-colour masti. But I kept it all within limits. I've my own code of censorship which my conscience won't allow me to break," observes the source.

Even more exasperating is the fact the film's promotional trailers on television have had words like 'sex', 'pornography' and 'virginity' beeped out. Says the source close to Madhur, "Which era are we living in? Today on television kids have unlimited access to reality shows that leave nothing to the imagination. And we actually feel our younger generation would get corrupted by references to sex and virginity?"

Madhur says he has no issues with the censors. "I respect their decision. I am used to Adults certificates for my films. And in fact Chandni Bar and Fashion did have adult content. But DTBHJ does not deserve an Adults certificate. The film is picking up by word of mouth with every show. Besides we've an 'open' week next week with no big release coming up."