Mid-Day
 
New Delhi, May 18 (Thursday,  1-00 pm): The Da Vinci Code has been officially cleared for release in India.

Mrunalini Patil, Censor Board committee member, confirmed, “The Centre will officially announce at 12 noon that the film has been cleared from their side, provided a disclaimer is added at the start saying the movie is a work of fiction. A letter stating the same will also be given to Sony Pictures at the time.”

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had put the ball in the Censor Board’s court yesterday, by leaving the final clearance of the film to them.

Peter Martis, publicist for the film in India, said, “Sony Pictures had agreed to insert a disclaimer right from the beginning, when the entire furore over the film began. Even the Censor Board had cleared it from the start. I don’t see what all the fuss was about.”

The decision comes after 18 days of intense protests and demonstrations by Christian groups in the country, who termed the film ‘blasphemous’.

Reacting to the decision, Dr Abraham Mathai, General Secretary of the All India Christian Council told Mid Day, “The film’s release is fine as long as there is a clear disclaimer at the start of the film, saying it is a work of fiction.”

The movie will be released all over India on May 19.