Box office: Controversy helps 'Udta Punjab' open big in UK

Controversial Bollywood film "Udta Punjab", opened in UK cinemas on Friday to great reviews. The Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh and Alia Bhatt starrer dominated headlines in the last few weeks over its producers' legal fight with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) against what it had branded as unfair cuts to as many as 89 scenes.

The Bombay High Court had finally cleared the film for release with the deletion of just one scene. "This film has become a movement against freedom of expression of creative artists and filmmakers through its tryst with the CBFC and at the same time shows the entertainment side of realistic cinema," said Rohit Shelatkar, co-founder of Grand Showbiz and Entertainment Ltd, the overseas distributor of the film.

"It feels great to be associated with such great producers who have supported the creative team of the movie and fought for them till the end. The entire film fraternity supported the makers and distributors of 'Udta Punjab' in the fight against CBFC, resulting in the landmark judgement in the history of Indian cinema," he said, agreeing that in the UK the controversy has only helped add to the hype around the film. "With a strong word of mouth and the publicity that we have done, the movie hopefully should do well," Shelatkar added.

The film, directed by Abhishek Chaubey and produced by Anurag Kashyap's Phantom Pictures and Balaji Telefilms, is a hard-hitting take on the impact of drugs on the youth of Punjab.