13 hours ago
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.
