Censor Board clears Shivaji

By: Settu Shankar
Friday, May 18, 2007
Shivaji - The Boss, the mega budgeted film of superstar Rajinikanth has been censored. The Censor Board members were pleased with the outcome of the film and have given a clean U certificate without any cuts or objections.

This film starring Rajini has big names like Shankar, A.R.Rahman and technicians known for their excellence such as K.V.Anand, Prabhu Deva, Thotta Tharani and Manish Malhotra. They have come together for this film in order to fulfill the expectations of the die-hard fans of the superstar. Now that the Censor Board has cleared it with a clean U certificate, it would hit the theatres as scheduled on 31st of this month. Its trailers will soon rock the small screens and theatres. "Shivaji is a clean entertainer and carries a good message needful to the present society. I have not seen such an extravaganza in my life," said a member of the Censor Board.

Meanwhile, the Chennai city police have seized nearly 30,000 pirated DVD covers of film Shivaji from various parts of the city. They have arrested three persons along with printing machines worth Rs.2 crore in connection to piracy.

Some people have been trying to release the pirated version of Rajinikanth's Shivaji for the past six months. In January, some of the pirated DVDs of the film were seized by the police from the platforms of Valasaravakkam. These DVD's contained 40 minutes of Audio and few minutes of visuals of the film. Its audio album was also illegally posted by various websites.

The world of piracy also wake up and got busy with the production of pirated version of the film as soon as AVM Productions announced that the film would be released on May 31. The Joint commissioner of Chennai police Jangit ordered for search operation to nab the culprits on tips from a source. Deputy commissioner Durairaj, Assistant Commissioner Madasamy, Inspectors Jhon Rose and Sub- Inspector Isakki Pandian searched in Border Thottam, Triplicane and nearby areas yesterday. During the search they found nearly 30,000 offset covers designed with Shivaji logos and stills. It shows that the group is getting ready to release the pirated version of the film much earlier than the release of the film in theaters.

The police seized the covers and the entire printing unit (Annai Offset) worth Rs. 2 crores and arrested three persons involved in this piracy. After completing the operation, Joint Commissioner Jangit told oneindia.in correspondent, "The Chennai police have saved a big film from the very initial stages of disaster. We have also seized thousands of CDs of new films like Periyar, Paruthi Veeran, Unnale Unnale worth Rs.11 lakhs from the spot. The search will continue and the police will never allowed such illegal activities."