A reel scam

Ever since TOI published a report on May 27, 2011, highlighting the AP Regional Censor Board���������s lackadaisical attitude towards the work at hand, the Board has been on its toes and how! After coming down heavy on the makers of ���������Veera��������� for allegedly ���������cheating��������� the Board by releasing unapproved prints, the suddenly vigilant Censor Board officials have now cracked down on a new bunch of miscreants.
In an audacious move, three dubbed films ��������� ���������Sega���������, ���������Kanchana��������� and ���������Mark��������� ��������� were being passed off as original Telugu films, all in a bid to cut down on the taxes levied on dubbed movies. What���������s more, two of these films even came equipped with certificates, which were allegedly fake, to prove that they were ���������Made in Tollywood���������! The Board however, saw through the game.
Tax Trouble
Explaining why filmmakers go to such lengths to hoodwink the Censor Board, Ashok Purohit, Manager, Incentives, AP Film Development Corporation, says, ���������While the entertainment tax for an original Telugu film is just 7 per cent for up to 35 prints and 15 per cent for anything more than that, for a dubbed flick, the taxes go up to 20 per cent.��������� And filmmakers are forever looking for new ways to cut corners and rake in more moolah.
Caught In The Act
sources in the industry reveal that producer Bellamkonda Suresh was the first one to submit an application to the board stating that ���������Kanchana��������� was an original Telugu film. ���������the Censor Board officials checked with the producer of the Tamil film by the same name to see whether he had sold the dubbing rights or the remake rights to Suresh. Once the board got the confirmation that only the dubbing rights were sold, Bellamkonda Suresh was asked to withdraw his application. He then had to resend the film to the Censor Board in Chennai,��������� says the source.
Meanwhile, the producers of ���������Sega��������� and ���������Mark��������� were also pulled up for a similar misdemeanor. In fact, ���������Sega��������� producer, Vallabhaneni Ashok, even produced a certificate issued by a private film laboratory in the city to prove that his is an original Tollywood production.
No Mercy
���������The Board was in no mood to take this matter lightly. The officials asked for the original Tamil version to cross-check how different it is from the Telugu one and discovered that there was no differnce. They let off the producer with a warning,��������� adds the source.
Natti Kumar, the producer of ���������Mark���������, however, argues that his movie was indeed shot in Andhra Pradesh, and therefore, is an original one. ���������The movie was shot near River Godavari and you can see the AP State Assembly and places like Rampachodavaram in the film,��������� he reasons. According to the sources, ���������Like Ashok, Natti Kumar too produced documents and receipts from the same lab to prove that his film was shot in Andhra Pradesh. In fact, Telugu actor Srihari, who played an important character in the film, tried to convince the censor Board official.���������
When questioned whether his film, due to release this Friday, had got the censor nod, Natti Kumar said, ���������not yet���������.
���������These issues have come to our notice too. Some producers who got membership in the Film Chamber are using this ploy to get the satellite rights of the films. We are discussing the issue and in future, we will categorize films as ���������bilingual���������, ���������dubbed��������� or ���������original���������,��������� says Suresh Babu, president, AP Film Chamber of Commerce.
On a concluding note Dhanlakshmi adds, ���������This is nothing but cheating. If this practice of passing off dubbed films as original ones continues, then the government will lose a lot of revenue. The AP Film Chamber of Commerce and the government should take necessary action against these erring producers.���������