Goa: HC relief for 'Dum Maro Dum'

Panaji, April 18: The makers of ''Dum Maro Dum'', which attracted a lot of flak for allegedly potraying Goa and its people in bad light, on April 18 heaved a sigh of relief as the Bombay High Court bench here dismissed the petition filed against the release of the movie.

Division bench comprising Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice F M Reis ruled that the petition be dismissed since the objectionable content has been deleted by the filmmaker.

The Court refused to grant relief to petitioner, Savio Rodrigues, a Goa based media professional, on the grounds that the plea for ban on DMD's release was filed based on promos.

Earlier, advocate Winnie Coutinho arguing on behalf of the petitioner stated that the promos of the movie have now replaced the word ''women'' with ''relationship'' which does not make much of a difference.

The petition had objected to the sentence in the movie ''liquor is cheaper and women are cheaper than liquor.''

She had urged the bench to watch the movie before delivering the judgement on the petition.

"We want to see whether edited promos reflect in the actual film," Coutinho argued.

The lawyer representing Fox Star Studio International Private Limited (FSSIPL) stated that the women word has been replaced in the national promos while in the international promos, it continues.

He pointed out that Censor Board has given ''A'' certificate to the movie after watching it completely. The lawyer said that the film does not promote drugs in Goa but is based on the fight against mafia.

After the court verdict FSSIPL representative Dina Duttani said that they are now ready to release the film worldwide on Friday.

"It will be released in 20 countries at 350 international locations and 1,000 theatres and multiplexes in India," she said.

The movie starring Abhishekh Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padakone depicts the underbelly of drug trade in Goa.

PTI