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The Hindu
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
CBFC made demands for Janaki name change through informal ways: Filmmaker M.B. Padmakumar
One of the things that filmmaker M.B. Padmakumar remembers from several interactions with Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) officials for the certification of his upcoming film Token Number is the lack of any official communication regarding the alleged issues related to the film. Although his film was cleared by the regional office of the CBFC, censor officials from the CBFC headquarters in Mumbai refused to certify the film until he changed the name of either of the protagonists - Janaki and Abraham. 'All the communication regarding the name change happened informally. If the Chairperson had any objection, the CBFC should have put it down in writing. When I asked the officials, they said that there would be no such official communication. Later, I was informed that the CEO will call me, but this call was through WhatsApp to prevent call recording,' Mr. Padmakumar tells The Hindu. Mr. Padmakumar himself was part of the CBFC regional committee until two months ago. The filmmaker went public with his ordeal only after the controversy broke out on Saturday over the CBFC demanding the makers of the film JSK - Janaki Vs State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, to change the title of the film. Both films faced an issue over the name 'Janaki'. Mr. Padmakumar's film explores the unlikely friendship between 65-year old Janaki and 72-year old Abraham. 'Janaki breaks out of the behaviour that the society expects from a senior citizen, who is not supposed to have any dream of her own. Abraham also finds himself in the same boat. The film explores what happens when they meet each other by chance,' he says. However, the censor officials found it a problem that a person named Janaki, the other name of Hindu goddess Sita, had anything to do with someone named Abraham. He was asked to change either of the names and was even given a list of possible names. 'I tried to reach out to them through various leaders, but after the initial promises, most of them turned hostile. After this, I sent an official email to the Union Minister of Broadcasting, which angered them further. I gave up as I was broken mentally and decided to change the name Janaki to Jayanthi, because the lip sync would match. However, the officials even objected to that name. At that point, I said that I won't be able to give in. I was ready for the film not even getting released. Finally, they agreed to the name change and issued the certification on June 9,' says Mr. Padmakumar who debuted with the award winning My Life Partner in 2014.
The Print
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Print
BJP minister Suresh Gopi's Malayalam film faces censor board objection over use of name ‘Janaki'
The movie is set to be released 27 June. However, it landed in trouble when sent for the CBFC clearance. Directed by Pravin Narayanan, 'Janaki Versus State of Kerala' revolves around the titular character, Janaki, essayed by actor Anupama Parameswaran, fighting for justice after a traumatic event. She is represented by another lead character played by actor-politician Suresh Gopi. Thiruvananthapuram: A Suresh Gopi-starrer Malayalam movie showcasing a woman's legal battle against the Kerala government has landed in controversy after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) objected to the use of the name of Goddess Sita. Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) general secretary B. Unnikrishnan said the Board asked the crew to change the name 'Janaki' as the character is undergoing a traumatic event in the movie. 'The story is about a woman battling against the State after she faced an atrocity. They say that a woman like that should not be named after the goddess Sita. We all know that it's strange. The CBFC has guidelines, and we all make movie content based on that. That guideline doesn't have any rules like this,' Unnikrishnan told the media on Sunday. The film crew, he said, hasn't received an official show cause notice yet but was told clearly by the CBFC that 'Janaki' should be removed from the title as well as the character name. 'If they give us the names that we can use in guidelines, we will make movies like that. Where are we headed? If the characters are Hindus, then the chances are that it could be of a god/goddess. I am genuinely scared that my name would be banned tomorrow,' Unnikrishnan said, adding that the Malayalam film industry will strongly protest this. ThePrint reached out to Union Minister and BJP MP Suresh Gopi, but he was unavailable for comment. However, soon after the issue came to light, another Malayalam director M.B. Padmakumar said that he had faced the same issue last month. Padmakumar said he was forced to change the character of the female lead's name from Janaki to Jayanthi, as the CBFC raised objections because the character was in a relationship with a Christian character named Abraham. 'I gave my movie titled 'Token Number' to the censor board on 22 May. The censor board asked me to change the name of Abraham to a Hindu name, but it was difficult to change the name because of his background. So, I decided to change the name Janaki,' Padmakumar said. The actor-director also alleged that he got threatening calls from many non-cinema organisations when he approached them for help. Padmakumar said the film finally got the CBFC nod later on 7 June after he changed the name to Jayanthi. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: 'Bharat Mata' portrait pits LDF against Kerala Governor, again. 'Turning Raj Bhavan into party office'
India Today
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
Censor board stalls Union Minister Suresh Gopi's film over use of 'Janaki' in title
The release of the Malayalam movie 'Janaki vs State of Kerala' starring Union Minister and actor Suresh Gopi, has been stalled following a demand from the Censor Board for Film Certification (CBFC) regarding a change in the film's title. As per the film's makers, the censor board asked them to change the name 'Janaki' as it also refers to the Hindu goddess Sita. The film tells the story of a woman who faced sexual assault and is pursuing a legal fight against the board reportedly said that God's name should not be given to a woman who was assaulted. The film's release was scheduled for June 27. Union Minister Suresh Gopi is yet to react to the regional office of CBFC in Thiruvananthapuram cleared the film with a U/A certificate. The film was later forwarded to the CBFC headquarters in Mumbai and the officials there demanded a change in the title. If the film's title is changed, many dialogues in the film mentioning the name has to be changed too. The Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) condemned this and said they will organise protests if the board continues with its MB Padmakumar alleged that his upcoming film 'Token Number' also faced similar issue. His film was certified a few days ago after he accepted the board's demands and changed the name Janaki to Jayanthi.'My film was censored on May 22. On the 23rd, I got to know about the demand. My character's name is Janaki Abraham. The film was cleared by the Trivandrum office, but since it's a feature film, they sent it to Mumbai office and then a demand was kept that the name be changed. It was informed unofficially. They were making WhatsApp calls. They had a problem with the relationship between Janaki and Abraham as well. I don't think the central government is aware of this. If they had this agenda, they could have sent the film to the revised committee. This could be the thought of the officials,' Padmakumar said.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
CBFC demands name change for JSK- Janaki Vs State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has demanded the makers of the film JSK - Janaki Vs State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, to change the title of the film. Filmmaker Pravin Narayanan told The Hindu on Sunday that the board's stand had effectively stalled the release of the film scheduled for June 27. When asked about the issue, regional officials of the CBFC were evasive and said that the 'certification process is ongoing.' According to Mr. Narayanan, 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 higher officials there demanded a change in the title as well as the name of the titular character of Janaki, apparently because the name also refers to the Hindu goddess Sita. 'We were supposed to load the content with the censor certificate attached on June 20 for distribution to release centres across the world. But on that evening, the CBFC officials told the producer that the film won't be certified unless the film and character names are changed. We told them to give us a written document denoting this, so that we can proceed to the review committee. The officials have told us that they will provide this on Monday. We have already spent a lot on publicity events and marketing. The online ticketing process was also about to begin,' said Mr. Narayanan. Minister yet to protest He said that the changes, if forced, would cause immense damage to the film as the mention of the name will have to be removed from several dialogues in the film. Mr. Gopi, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, is yet to comment on the whole issue. He was part of the promotional events of the film over the past week. The film is set to be his first release after taking charge as a Minister. Incidentally, filmmaker M.B. Padmakumar had also recently spoken about the issues he faced from the CBFC over a character in his upcoming film Token Number being named Janaki. The board officials had demanded a change in the name of either Janaki or her lover Abraham. The film was certified a few days ago only after he gave into the board's demands and changed the name Janaki to Jayanthi. FEFKA to protest Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) general secretary and filmmaker lashed out at CBFC and said that the federation will organise protests if the board persists with the demand. 'It would be convenient if the CBFC provides us with a list of names that can be used. I fear that soon they will also ask me not to mention my name in the credits, as it is also a Hindu god's name. We have told the filmmaker to move legally against this,' said Mr. Unnikrishnan. The Kerala Film Producers' Association has also criticised the increasing tendency of censors meddling in the content, which he said is against the CBFC's own guidelines.
