Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday questioned the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) over its decision to withhold certification for the upcoming Malayalam film ‘JSK: Janaki v State of Kerala’, starring Suresh Gopi.

The court's observation came during a hearing on a plea filed by the film’s production company, Cosmos Entertainments, which alleged that the CBFC had caused an “unreasonable delay” in granting the censor certificate for the film, which is slated for a worldwide release on 27 June.

CBFC objects to title character’s name

Deputy Solicitor General of India (DSGI) OM Shalina, appearing for the CBFC, informed the court that the board’s objection was to the name of the film’s central character, ‘Janaki’, another name for the Hindu goddess Sita.

At this, the court strongly questioned the rationale behind the objection.

“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?” the court asked.

‘Inconsistency and arbitrariness’ in CBFC’s stand: Petition

According to the petition, no official communication or show cause notice had been received by the production company.

However, “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,” it stated.

The petition also highlighted that this delay amounts to a violation of the fundamental right to free speech under the Constitution and would cause irreparable financial loss to the production company.

CBFC cites mature content in defence

The DSGI submitted that the film contains mature themes, including sexual crimes against women, and the usage of explicit language referring to women. She argued that this context, combined with the name of the character, could lead to sensitivities.

Legal dispute intensifies

The production company’s counsel argued that the revising committee has no power to issue a show cause notice and requested the court to direct the CBFC to issue the censor certificate expeditiously.

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

FEFKA announces protest march

Meanwhile, reacting to the controversy, Malayalam filmmaker and Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) General Secretary, B Unnikrishnan, voiced strong opposition to the CBFC’s stance.

On Friday, he announced that the federation would not remain passive and would launch a protest march to the office of the CBFC.

The film reportedly portrays the legal struggle of a woman against the state government and is seen by its makers as a work that addresses serious social issues. The CBFC has reportedly insisted on removing the name ‘Janaki’ from both the character and the film’s title due to its religious connotation.

(Agency inputs)