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United News of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- United News of India
CBFC proposes 30 cuts for ‘Manushi': Madras HC Judge to decide justifiability
Chennai, Aug 19 (UNI) With the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) firm on 30 cuts for certifying the theatrical release of the movie 'Manushi', directed by noted filmmaker Gopi Nainar, the makers have knocked on the doors of the Judiciary for the second time. Justice N Anand Venkatesh today decided to watch the movie for himself to ascertain whether the censor board was justified in its decision. The Judge will have a private screening of the Andrea Jeremaiah-starrer on Sunday and decide whether the CBFC's stand, mandating 37 cuts for release in theatres, is tenable and based on sound reasoning or arbitrary. When the petition filed by Vetrimaran, challenging the 37 cuts suggested by the CBFC came up for hearing, the Judge took the decision to watch the movie. Produced under the banner of Grassroot Film Company of Vetrimaran, 'Manushi' is directed by Gopi Nainar, who rose to fame with his Nayanthara-starrer 'Aramm'. As shown in the trailer, released by popular actor Vijay Sethupathi, the film is about custodial torture of a woman suspected by the police to be a terrorist. Both the examining committee and screening committee of the CBFC, which had watched the movie in September last, had refused to issue the censor certificate claiming that the film had painted the State in black besides confusing Left Extremism with mainstream Communism. Director Gopi Nainar has said that 'Manushi' initiates a conversation, one which people have avoided thus far, on the rationale behind every crime and to redeem society from crimes engulfing it. According to him, Manushi narrates the harrowing story of a woman tortured in the name of inquiry, how she is not even allowed to sleep and relieve herself and how her family is defamed. Besides being a filmmaker, he is a prominent Dalit activist and a senior office-bearer of the Viduthalai Chiuthaigal Katchi (VCK) of Thol. Thirumavalavan. Aggrieved over the blanket rejection, Vetrimaran approached the High Court in June this year with his first writ petition. In his petition, the filmmaker-producer submitted that he was not given an opportunity to be heard before the CBFC denied the certification. Also, he was not informed of the individual views of the committee members, it was pointed out. Further, it was submitted that a representation was made before the CBFC in March this year to constitute an expert panel, comprised human rights activists, to examine the movie afresh. As such, he sought a direction to the Censor Board to consider his representation and issue a speaking order consequent to the re-examination. Hearing the plea, Justice Anand Venkatesh wondered how there could be a blanket rejection by the Censor Board for an entire movie even without listing what were objectionable in the visuals or dialogues. The Judge directed the CBFC to review the film and on June 17, disposed of it after the censor board submitted that it had reviewed the film and listed out the portions that required to be edited for issuance of the certificate. However, the Court also permitted Vetrimaran to proceed further in accordance with law. The present petition, the second one, was filed by Vetrimaran, contending that the CBFC had failed to view the movie in the light of the well-established guidelines and was adamant upon guillotining everyday usages such as 'saniyan' (to scold someone as akin to Saturn, bringing misfortune). When it came up for hearing, Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that he had no choice but to see the movie for himself along with the committee members to ascertain the facts about the need for 37 cuts as mandated by the CBFC. Then, he directed that arrangements be made for the screening of the movie at a private theatre in the city. UNI XC SSP
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Madras HC to watch 'Manushi' amid clash with censor board
Chennai, Aug 19 (IANS) In an unusual step, the Madras High Court will directly review the Tamil film 'Manushi' following a bitter standoff between its makers and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). In an unusual step, the Madras High Court will directly review the Tamil film 'Manushi' following a bitter standoff between its makers and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, hearing a petition filed by the film's producer C. Vetri Maaran , on Tuesday ordered a private screening of the film on August 24 in Chennai to determine whether the censor board was justified in demanding 37 cuts. The film, produced by Vetri Maaran's Grassroot Film Company and directed by Gopi Nainar , known for his earlier work 'Aramm', stars Andrea Jeremiah in the lead role. It depicts the custodial torture of a woman suspected of being a terrorist, a subject that has already drawn attention since the release of its trailer by actor Vijay Sethupathi in April 2024. Trouble began in September 2024 when both the examining and reviewing committees of the CBFC refused to grant a censor certificate. They objected to the film because it portrayed the State in a "negative light" and claimed it blurred the lines between "leftist communism" and "mainstream communism". The rejection was challenged by Vetri Maaran in June this year, when he filed a writ petition alleging that the CBFC had acted without transparency by neither providing him an opportunity to defend the film nor spelling out specific objections. He further requested the constitution of an expert panel, including human rights activists, to re-examine the film. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like TV providers are furious: this gadget gives you access to all channels Techno Mag Learn More Undo The High Court, while hearing that earlier petition, recorded the CBFC's submission that it had reviewed the film again and listed objectionable sequences. The petition was disposed of in June, with the court granting the producer liberty to pursue the matter further in law. However, Vetri Maaran returned to court with a fresh petition, arguing that the board's objections were excessive and arbitrary. He pointed out that even simple dialogues, such as the colloquial insult "saniyan", had been flagged for removal, which he argued violated the CBFC's guidelines. Responding to these claims, Justice Venkatesh remarked that the only way forward was to personally watch the film along with the censor board members to verify the validity of the objections. He directed that the screening be held at a private theatre on Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Salai (formerly Greenways Road) and asked senior central government panel counsel A. Kumaraguru to ensure the attendance of CBFC officials. The High Court's decision to step into the censor dispute sets the stage for an extraordinary judicial review of 'Manushi'. The outcome of this screening will not only decide the film's release but could also influence wider debates on censorship and creative freedom in Indian cinema. "Get the latest updates on Times of India, including reviews of the movie Coolie and War 2 ."
Hans India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Madras High Court Judge to view 'Manushi' amid row over 37 cuts by censor board
Chennai: In an unusual step, the Madras High Court will directly review the Tamil film 'Manushi' following a bitter standoff between its makers and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, hearing a petition filed by the film's producer C. Vetri Maaran, on Tuesday ordered a private screening of the film on August 24 in Chennai to determine whether the censor board was justified in demanding 37 cuts. The film, produced by Vetri Maaran's Grassroot Film Company and directed by Gopi Nainar, known for his earlier work 'Aramm', stars Andrea Jeremiah in the lead role. It depicts the custodial torture of a woman suspected of being a terrorist, a subject that has already drawn attention since the release of its trailer by actor Vijay Sethupathi in April 2024. Trouble began in September 2024 when both the examining and reviewing committees of the CBFC refused to grant a censor certificate. They objected to the film because it portrayed the State in a "negative light" and claimed it blurred the lines between "leftist communism" and "mainstream communism". The rejection was challenged by Vetri Maaran in June this year, when he filed a writ petition alleging that the CBFC had acted without transparency by neither providing him an opportunity to defend the film nor spelling out specific objections. He further requested the constitution of an expert panel, including human rights activists, to re-examine the film. The High Court, while hearing that earlier petition, recorded the CBFC's submission that it had reviewed the film again and listed objectionable sequences. The petition was disposed of in June, with the court granting the producer liberty to pursue the matter further in law. However, Vetri Maaran returned to court with a fresh petition, arguing that the board's objections were excessive and arbitrary. He pointed out that even simple dialogues, such as the colloquial insult "saniyan", had been flagged for removal, which he argued violated the CBFC's guidelines. Responding to these claims, Justice Venkatesh remarked that the only way forward was to personally watch the film along with the censor board members to verify the validity of the objections. He directed that the screening be held at a private theatre on Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Salai (formerly Greenways Road) and asked senior central government panel counsel A. Kumaraguru to ensure the attendance of CBFC officials. The High Court's decision to step into the censor dispute sets the stage for an extraordinary judicial review of 'Manushi'. The outcome of this screening will not only decide the film's release but could also influence wider debates on censorship and creative freedom in Indian cinema.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Madras High Court judge to watch Vetri Maaran's movie ‘Manushi' to decide on CBFC's suggestion for 37 cuts
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court, on Tuesday (August 19, 2025), decided to watch the Andrea Jeremiah-starrer Tamil movie 'Manushi' during a private screening in Chennai on Sunday (August 24) to ascertain if the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is justified in suggesting as many as 37 cuts. The judge took the decision pursuant to a writ petition filed by the film's producer C. Vetri Maaran, also an acclaimed director, questioning the 37 cuts made mandatory before the CBFC could certify the movie to be fit enough for public screening in cinema theatres. The film had been produced under the writ petitioner's production banner Grassroot Film Company and directed by Tamil movie 'Aramm' fame Gopi Nainar. The movie's trailer, released by actor Vijay Sethupathi in April 2024, showed it to be a story revolving around custodial torture of a woman suspected to be a terrorist. In September 2024, the CBFC's examining committee as well as screening committee watched the full length movie and refused to issue a censor certificate for the movie on the ground that it had portrayed the State in bad light and it had confused 'leftist communism' with 'mainstream communism'. Earlier petition Mr. Maaran approached the High Court with his first writ petition in June 2025 challenging the blanket rejection of censor certificate. He said he was neither given an opportunity to be heard before the denial of the censor certificate nor informed of the individual views of the censor committee members. The producer stated he had submitted a representation to the CBFC on March 29, 2025 requesting the constitution of an expert committee comprising of human rights activists to re-examine the movie and sought a direction to the CBFC to consider his representation and issue a speaking order after re-examination. Then, Justice Venkatesh wondered how could there be a blanket rejection of censor certificate for the entire movie without listing out the objectionable scenes, sequences, visuals, dialogues, audio clips and other aspects which required to be edited out before issuance of the certificate. On June 17, the judge disposed of the first writ petition after recording the submission of CBFC that it had reviewed the movie as directed by the court and listed out the objectionable portions that required editing. Then, the judge also permitted the petitioner to proceed in accordance with law. Second petition Mr. Maaran had come to the High Court with the present writ petition claiming the CBFC had failed to consider the movie in the light of well established guidelines and that it had insisted on editing out even simple dialogues such as 'saniyan' (a Tamil term used to scold people). When the second writ petition was listed before Justice Venkatesh on Tuesday, he said, now, he would have no choice but to watch the movie himself, along with the committee members, to ascertain whether they were justified in suggesting the 37 cuts. He directed the parties before him to make arrangements for playing the movie in a private theatre at Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Salai (previously known as Greenways Road) in Chennai on Sunday afternoon and asked central government senior panel counsel A. Kumaraguru to ensure the presence of CBFC committee members.
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Vetri Maaran moves HC claiming that CBFC denied certification
When we reached out to the film's director Gopi Nainar, he told us he had sent the movie for certification a year back. 'We asked them for a certificate, but their response was along the lines that the film should not be released.' Vetri Maaran has approached the Madras High Court after Manushi , a film produced by him and helmed by Aramm director Gopi Nainar , was reportedly denied certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). In his petition, Vetri stated that CBFC refused to certify his film, which deals with the custodial interrogation of a woman (played by Andrea Jeremiah), alleging that its content portrayed the State in a bad light. TO TALK IS MY RIGHT; HOW IS THIS AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION?' ASKS GOPI NAINAR When we reached out to the film's director Gopi Nainar, he told us he had sent the movie for certification a year back. 'We asked them for a certificate, but their response was along the lines that the film should not be released.' Gopi Nainar continued, 'We then approached the Revising Committee and they too said the same. I'm ready to even cut portions of my film, the issue is that they do not want a film with such a concept to come out.' Questioning the Censor Board's decision, he stated, 'In the film, there is an inquiry scene during an illegal custody and the CBFC said that the arguments made in the scene are against our country. But that's not true. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 임플란트 최대 할인 지원해드려요 임플란터 더 알아보기 Undo Nassar's character asks Andrea's character whether children should be raised with religion or science, and Andrea says science. This is a conversation between two characters and yet, the CBFC said, 'You are saying that science should grow instead of religion, which means you are against religion. '' 'So, I asked them, 'Out of the thousand religions here, which one does my film offend?' One person said it's against the Hindu religion because a character in the film says, 'I'm a vegetarian'. I don't know how they connect being a vegetarian to a particular religion,' he said. 'To talk is my right; how is this against the constitution? I asked them whether there is any scene, shot, character or dialogue in the film that's against India. They didn't reply to that,' he said and added, 'All we want is for the film to be certified.' Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
