Kaminey - Marketing and Release

Marketing and Release

The first-look poster of Kaminey was received positively by critics. The trailer, which introduces four characters; one lisping, one stuttering, a woman yelling about having raped a man and one jeering at the lisper, received positive reviews. Critics kept their expectations high due to Bhardwaj's previous films, and said the trailer was like a comic book which introduces the characters of Kapoor and Chopra differently. The theatrical trailers and the music generated interest for the film. The film's marketing also involved public appearances by Chopra and Kapoor.

The makers of the film expressed disappointment about the Censor Board for Film Certification's decision to grant the film an "A" certificate—meant for viewers 18 years or older—instead of a "U/A" certificate that they had expected. Bhardwaj said, "It was injustice to us. There is no abusive language used in the film and the violence is of 'comic book kind'." The Censor Board asked him to replace the use of Pilibhit in the dialogue, which they said was a sensitive constituency, with a fictitious city name. He replaced Pilibhit with Barabanki." The film was subject to some controversies. A First Information Report was filed by Jagannath Sena Sangathan at a police station in Puri against the makers of the film for allegedly denigrating Lord Jagannath. According to them, a scene in which 'Apna Hath Jagannath' in the toilet on a semi-clad model had hurt religious sentiments. Later, the objectionable portion was removed from the prints released in the state of Orissa. A complaint supported by a caste group backed by a Samajwadi Party MP about the use of the name of a community "teli" in the song "Dhan Te Nan", which was considered derogatory to the Teli community, was filed to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Censor Board reacted to the complaint, insisting upon the replacement of the word, which was later replaced with the rhyming word "Dilli".

Kaminey was scheduled to release on 5 June 2009. However, the release was postponed because of problems between the producers and multiplexes in India. The film was released on 14 August 2009 on 1,200 screens worldwide. Because of the 2009 flu pandemic, the film was not released in the Maharashtra region—including Mumbai and Pune—because the multiplexes in these cities were closed by the Maharashtra government for three days as part of precautionary measures against swine flu. Moser Baer Home Videos released Kaminey on DVD in October 2009 across all regions in a two-disc pack complying with the NTSC format. One disc contains the film; the other disc has additional content including a "making of the film" documentary, the original beginning and deleted scenes. VCD and Blu-Ray versions were released at the same time. Bollywood Hungama critic Joginder Tuteja rated the DVD 4 out of 5, praising the bonus features and the packaging. Airtel Digital TV premiered the film on its Pay Per View service on 12 September 2009. The Indian television premiere of the film was on Colors on 18 February 2010.