'We've Films With Ram, Sita In Title': HC To Censor Board Amid Row Over Suresh Gopi's 'JSK'
Last Updated:
JSK's production company moved the Kerala High Court against delay by the CBFC to issue censor certificate to the film named "Janaki vs State of Kerala".
The Kerala High Court on Friday questioned the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on its order to withhold the certification for Union Minister Suresh Gopi's film JSK: Janaki vs State of Kerala.
Deputy Solicitor General of India (DSGI), OM Shalina, who appeared for CBFC, said that the objection was regarding the central character of the film, named Janaki – a name associated with Hindu goddess Sita, Bar and Bench reported.
To the objection, Justice N Nagaresh observed that there are several films with the names of gods and goddesses and yet censor certificates were issued 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 names Sita and Gita. Janaki is Sita. Nothing happened then. Nobody had any complaints. We have a film named Ram Lakhan. Nobody has any complaint. How come there are some complaints for Janaki now?" the court asked.
The court's remarks came while hearing a petition filed by the film's production company Cosmos Entertainment, regarding the delay in censor certification. The petition mentioned that the application for film certification was submitted through the CBFC's e-cinepramaan portal on June 12. However, the CBFC has neither issued the certificate nor raised any official objections so far. It also noted that the CBFC had earlier given a censor certificate for the film's teaser trailer, Bar and Bench reported.
Shalina informed the court that the film includes mature themes such as sexual crimes against women and the use of explicit language referring to women.
According to the petitioner, the CBFC was delaying the certificate due to its informal objections to the film's title and the 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 said.
The petitioner also said that the film was set for worldwide release on June 27 and the delay amounts to a violation of the fundamental right to free speech.
Stating that this would cause 'irreparable financial loss" to the company, the company urged the court to order the CBFC to issue a censor certificate to the film expeditiously.
At the previous hearing, the Court had chosen to wait for the decision of the CBFC's revising committee. The committee met on June 26 and issued a show cause notice to the production company, stating that the name 'Janaki" must be removed from the film's title, character name, dialogues, and anywhere else it appears.
The Court then directed the Deputy Solicitor General of India (DSGI) to submit a copy of the notice and scheduled the next hearing for Monday, June 30.
First Published:
June 27, 2025, 16:51 IST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
High Court points to Sita Aur Geeta and Ram Lakhan, asks why CBFC objects to title of Janaki vs State of Kerala
The Kerala High Court on Friday asked what the problem was with the title of the Malayalam film, Janaki vs State of Kerala, after the Central Board of Film Certification demanded that it be changed. The producers of the film, starring actor and Union minister Suresh Gopi, approached the High Court against the delay in CBFC certification for the film that had been scheduled for release on Friday (June 27). Following opposition to the CBFC's first demand for a change in the title of the film, the matter was taken up by the Revising Committee of the board, which also called for the name change. The word the CBFC wants changed is Janaki, another name for Goddess Sita, which is also the name of the main character in the film. When the matter came up for hearing in the High Court, Justice N Nagaresh pointed out there had been several films that have names of Gods in the title, and that there had so far been no problem. 'Then, how come for Janaki there is a complaint?' the judge asked. The court observed that there had been films such Sita Aur Geeta (1972) and Ram Lakhan (1989). The CBFC informed the court that it had issued a notice to the producers, saying the film could be sanctioned for public exhibition if they carry out a change in the name of the lead character, Janaki, from the title and from dialogue. The notice also said the Revising Committee came to the conclusion. It said the film deals with mature content, which includes sexual crime against women, strong sexual language/words, references to drugs, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Considering the same, the Revising Committee unanimously recommended the grant of 'UA 16+' with the modifications. Subsequently, the court directed the CBFC to place the notice before it on the next day of hearing on June 30, even asking the film producers to either reply to the notice or appeal against it. Supreme Court advocate and Rajya Sabha member Haris Beeran, who appeared for the producer, Cosmos Entertainment, said the board has no right to issue such a notice. It is untenable under the cinematograph certification rules. 'We are going to challenge the notice as filing a reply will only further delay the release of the film,' he said.
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Why has JSK – Janaki Vs State of Kerala not been issued censor certificate, HC asks censor board
Stating that films bearing similar names had been released earlier, the Kerala High Court asked the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) why censor certificate has not been issued for the Malayalam feature film JSK – Janaki vs State of Kerala. The producer firm of the film that stars, among others, Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi had approached the High Court, citing delay on the part of the CBFC in issuing the certificate. The CBFC's counsel informed the court that its objection was to the name of the film's central character, Janaki, which is another name for the Hindu goddess Sita. Also, explicit language was used while referring to women. Certificate for teaser Wondering why the name of the character – a commonly used name — has to be changed, the court observed that many Indian films having names of gods, goddesses and religious figures in the title had been granted censor certificates in the past. There were movies like Sita aur Gita. No one had any complaints then. The film's producer firm said that the CBFC had issued a censor certificate for the same film's teaser trailer. The revising committee of the CBFC had on Thursday asked the makers of the film to change the title of the film as well as the name of the protagonist. It had been reported that the Thiruvananthapuram regional office of the CBFC had cleared the censoring of the film on June 18 with a U/A certificate. However, when the regional office forwarded the same to the CBFC headquarters in Mumbai, the officials there demanded a change in the title as well as the name of the titular character of Janaki. It was also conveyed to the makers through unofficial channels that the victim of a sexual assault cannot be named after a goddess. The revising committee met after the makers of the film approached the Kerala High Court, alleging delay.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Janaki vs State of Kerala: Malayalam film bodies to stage protest before CBFC office for declining certification
Film personalities belonging to various movie organisations will stage a dharna before the office of the Central Board of Film Certfication (CBFC) on Monday to protest the Board's decision to decline certification to the film Janaki Vs State of Kerala (JSK). The CBFC revising committee had verbally directed the makers of the Suresh Gopi-starrer, JSK, to change the name of the titular character, as Janaki is another name of Goddess Sita. Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) general secretary B Unnikrishnan told reporters here on Friday that people belonging to the entire film industry will take part in the protest before the CBFC office in Thiruvananthapuram. Terming the CBFC's decision as 'arbitrary,' he wondered why the name change was being suggested after the film was cleared by the regional panel of the censor board. ALSO READ | Akshaye Khanna fired Vidya Balan after she refused to do a film opposite him: 'I was so scared, asked John Abraham to save me' The film was given U/A certification and was sent to the CBFC office in Mumbai, from where the change was suggested. 'We fail to understand the criterion behind such a decision,' he said. Earlier also, director M B Padmakumar's film, Token Number could be cleared for release only after changing the name of its female character from Janaki to Jayanthi, he said. Unnikrishnan said the teaser and trailer of JSK, cleared by the censor board, were being run in theatres for the last one month. 'We do not know if it has created any communal disharmony.' The film's director, Pravin Narayanan, in his Facebook post on Thursday, confirmed that he had been told by the revising committee members that the name of the central character be changed to get a certification. Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court, which is hearing a petition filed by the film's makers against the delay in getting certification, directed the censor board to inform its decision to the court on Friday itself.
