Laters, baby.
Christian Grey's trademark sign-off may well reflect the status of the release of his film on Indian screens.
Fifty Shades of Grey, the much-awaited Valentine's Day release based on the E.L. James bestseller of the same name, is unlikely to keep its date with India even as it releases in the rest of the world on Friday the 13th.
Reason? Till Tuesday evening, the censor board hadn't watched the film, making it "next to impossible" for Universal Pictures to release the film on Friday.
"We had allotted Universal Pictures a date as early as January 23 to show us the film but they hadn't got the print by then. We haven't heard from them since. If they are able to deliver the print to us on time, we will definitely see it... that is also subject to the availability of all officers of the board," Pahlaj Nihalani, the new chairperson of the censor board, said from Mumbai.
When Metro had contacted him on Monday, Nihalani seemed to be unaware that a film called Fifty Shades of Grey was even scheduled for release this Friday.
Jacinto Fernandes, head of marketing at Universal Pictures, declined to comment on whether Universal Pictures would be able to release the film on Friday, though word is that the studio has unofficially informed exhibitors that it is now looking at a February 20 release.
Curiously, Universal Pictures is promoting Fifty Shades as a "date movie".
"It's true that we were unable to show the film to the censor board on January 23 because the consignment of prints hadn't arrived by then. But we have submitted the print now and are hoping that they will watch it in a day or two," Fernandes said.
Industry sources said a day was enough for a film with universal certification to get the censor board's clearance and hit the theatres. But for Fifty Shades of Grey, which looks set to invite a certain number of cuts, the window is too small for the producers to re-edit the film, make the required cuts and screen it anew for the censor board.
The cloud hanging over the release of the film, which includes sadomasochism, bondage behaviour and a reported 20 minutes of sex in 100 minutes of running time, has upset fans of the book who have been looking forward to seeing Jamie Dornan as the dashing but kinky billionaire Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, the college student who becomes his "submissive" partner.
"I read the book when I was in school and am looking forward to the film because I wanted to see how the scenes I had visualised in my mind would translate on screen. I am very disappointed that the film may not release this Friday," said Debdeep Banerjee, a third-year student of mass communication at St. Xavier's College.
For Disha Banerjee, a second-year student at Shri Shikshayatan College, a Fifty Shades no-show on Friday would mean a hugely disappointing missed date with Grey.
Even if Fifty Shades is released this Friday or the next, fans like Debdeep and Disha might still find the film an underwhelming fantasy because of the possibility of drastic cuts and watered-down action in Grey's Red Room of Pain.
That's what happened with David Fincher's Gone Girl last year, where the sex scenes were blurred out for Indian audiences. The same director had chosen not to release his previous film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in India after the censor board ordered massive cuts.
Sources said the censor board was likely to be "especially stringent" while vetting Fifty Shades in the wake of the AIB Knockout fiasco. The film, whose trailer has notched up 50 million views online, has already been banned in Malaysia. The Malaysian censor board dismissed Sam Taylor-Johnson's take on James's bestseller as "pornography" despite many of the book's steamier moments being left out of the film.
Fans like Debdeep and Disha plan to catch what they miss on the big screen in the "downloaded" version later. "Downloading is the only option to watch the film untouched, but I would still like to see it once on the big screen," Debdeep said.
Till then, we can almost hear Grey going: "Don't get your panties in a twist."
Should films like Fifty Shades be cleared with an 'A' certificate and no cuts? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com
