Malayalam film Marco, termed as the most violent movie ever made in the language, will not get satellite streaming rights as the regional office of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has rejected a plea by its producers for category conversion from ‘A’ certificate to ‘UA’ for obtaining TV rights.
The regional examination committee had turned down the application of Marco producers for category conversion on February 19, T Nadeem Thufali, regional officer of CBFI, told PTI on Wednesday.
The film, starring Unni Mukundan and one of the biggest grossers with an ‘A’ certificate, was released on December 20 last year. The movie has been streaming on OTT platform SonyLiv from February 14.
Thufali said satellite rights are given to films with either ‘U’ or ‘UA’ certificates. The films are categorized and certified based on their content, he said.
Parents should be vigilant to ensure that children do not watch movies with extreme violence, he said, adding the committee had made a formal recommendation to the Centre that the streaming of the movie be prohibited on the OTT platform also. “However, CBFC has no regulatory powers on OTT streaming,” he added.
Censor Board member G M Mahesh said several private complaints have been filed by citizens thinking that CBFC has powers to check the OTT streaming. “That is why we have made a formal request at the ministerial level,” he told PTI.
