Madras HC slams Censor Board for denying certification to movie produced by Vetrimaaran
Chennai: The Madras High Court has criticised the Censor Board on its decision to deny the Censor Certificate to Gopi Nainar's directorial 'Manusi', a Tamil movie produced by noted director Vetrimaaran, on Wednesday. The High Court sought to know how certification can be denied without providing clarity on the problematic scenes, visuals or dialogues that have to be cut before its release. The court also observed that cinema falls under the purview of Freedom of Expression.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh pointed out that if the problematic scenes are not pointed out properly, the producer will have to suffer, not knowing what to retain and what to remove. Also it will incur a huge financial loss to the producer.
“Making a movie is a part of the right to speech and expression. As such, the filmmakers are already suffering from a lot of difficulties. You cannot deny certification for an entire movie without specifying the objectionable portions and expect a filmmaker to shoot the entire movie afresh,” said the judge. The court also directed Central Government's senior advocate A Kumaraguru to collect required information from the Censor Board on the portions that require editing before June 16.
In addition, the court suggested officials concerned to watch the movie along with the producer so that the offensive part could be easily pointed out directly to him. Observing that cinema falls under the purview of Freedom of Expression, the court said certification cannot be denied by giving vague statements about the objectionable scenes.
The court also pointed out the five reasons, cited by the Censor Board for denying certification to ‘Manusi’.
- The film would disrupt the state's unity and integrity.
- It contains derogatory scenes.
- It defames the government.
- It deepens the polarisation between the North and the South of the nation.
- It evokes anti-nationalist interests.
The court has directed the Censor Board to give a clarification by June 11.
Vetrimaaran's Grass Root Film Company is the official producer of the ‘Manusi’ starring Andrea Jeremiah, supported by Nassar, Hakkim Shah, Balaji Sakthivel among others. The music is composed by Ilayaraja.