Vishal, on September 28, took to social media to reveal that he had paid a bribe of Rs 6.5 lakh to the officials at the CBFC office in Mumbai to release his film 'Mark Antony' in Hindi. Following his complaint, the Ministry of Information and Broadcast came forward to state that official action would be taken, and now the new update regarding the case is that the Central Bureau of Investigation, on October 5, officially registered a complaint against the persons and officials named Merlin Menaga, Rajan M., and Jeeja Ramdas for demanding and taking a fee to issue the censor certificate.
Vishal said that the money was deposited in two halves in two accounts, and he gave the details of the transactions and even mentioned the account holder's name and the official Menaga who asked him for a bribe. Now, the CBI, in a press note, revealed that Menaga had initially demanded Rs 7 lakh from Vishal to release the film in Hindi and then later negotiated and settled for Rs 6.5 lakh. The note also mentioned that Menaga took Rs 20,000 as a coordination fee for facilitating the deal with the CBFC Mumbai office. The probe is currently underway.
Vishal's 'Mark Antony' was released in theaters on September 15. Directed by Adhik Ravichander, the movie stars Vishal and SJ Suryah in lead roles, and the science fiction action drama has already grossed Rs 100 crore at the box office.
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