Kochi, June 27 (IANS) The Kerala High Court on Friday questioned the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on its direction to withhold certification for the upcoming Malayalam movie “JSK: Janaki v State of Kerala”, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi.

Film production company Cosmos Entertainments on Wednesday approached the Kerala High Court alleging unreasonable delay by the CBFC in granting the censor certificate to Gopi’s film.

On Friday, Deputy Solicitor General of India O.M. Shalina, appearing for CBFC, informed the court that the objection is regarding the name of the film’s central character, Janaki, which is another name for the Hindu goddess Sita.

At this, the court observed that many Indian films with names of gods, goddesses, and religious figures in the title were granted censor certificates in the past.

“Why should somebody change the name of a character? Janaki is a common name used everywhere. What religious purpose? We have movies with the names Sita and Gita. Janaki is Sita. Nothing happened then. Nobody had any complaints. We have a film named Ram Lakhan. Nobody has any complaints. How come there are some complaints for Janaki now?” it asked.

The DSGI submitted that the movie includes mature themes such as sexual crimes against women and usage of explicit language referring to women.

As per the petitioner, the delay by the CBFC is due to informal objections regarding the film’s title and character name ‘Janaki’.

“Even though no official communication or show cause notice have been received from the respondents, from the newspaper reports, the petitioner came to know that the censor board had directed to change in the title as well as the name of the titular character of Janaki, by citing that it refers to the Hindu goddess ‘Sita’, which shows the inconsistency and arbitrariness in the stand now taken by the censor board in objecting to the same title and character name at the stage of certifying the full film, despite having previously granted certification for the teaser without raising any such concerns,” the petition stated.

According to the plea, since the film was scheduled for worldwide release on June 27, this delay amounts to a violation of the fundamental right to free speech guaranteed under the Constitution.

This would also cause irreparable financial loss to the company, it was submitted.

The company, therefore, sought orders from the Court to the CBFC to expeditiously issue a censor certificate for the film.

The company’s counsel pointed out that the revising committee has no power to issue a show cause notice.

The court on Friday directed the DSGI to submit a copy of the notice issued to the company and posted the matter for further hearing on Monday.

The CBFC has reportedly sought a change in the name of the titular character, Janaki, and for the name to be removed from the film’s title, given its religious connotations.

The film revolves around the legal fight of a woman against the government. Responding to the controversy, Malayalam director and Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) General Secretary, B. Unnikrishnan, on Friday said they will not sit idle and have announced a protest march to the office of the CBFC.

–IANS

sg/vd