Date:19/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/19/stories/2006051909950100.htm

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Film cleared but with conditions

Special Correspondent

To be given `A' certification; disclaimer at beginning and end of film

Release of film may be delayed by a few days

Sony pictures yet to respond to official communication

NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Thursday cleared `The Da Vinci Code' for release in India with an `A' certificate provided the producers insert a disclaimer at the beginning and the end of the film. It should state the film is a work of fiction and has no intention of hurting anyone's sentiments.

With the producers, Sony Pictures, yet to respond to the CBFC's communication, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said the release of the film in might be delayed by a few days.

Special screening

The board cleared the film after factoring in the views of official representatives of the Christian community. They watched it at a special screening here on Wednesday. While stating the storyline was "unacceptable" to Christians as it tried to "present fiction as truth," the signatories to the one-page communication to the Government sought an `A' certificate for the film and a bold disclaimer.

The disclaimer, they said, should run for at least 15 seconds — at the beginning and the end— and should state: "This film is a work of pure fiction and has no correspondence to the historical facts pertaining to the Christian religion or the Church."