3 min readNew DelhiNov 13, 2013 02:21 AM IST
With under 72 hours to go for the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Ram-Leela,a city court restrained the producers from using the title,sources said.
A representative suit was filed by three organisations against the release of the movie on Monday. Two individuals are also slated to join the petition.
The suit has been filed against director and producer of the movie,Sanjay Leela Bhansali; the production company,Eros International Media Limited; and the Central Board of Film Certification,which granted the film an UA certificate on November 1.
The film is based on Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet and is sub-titled “Goliyon ki Rasleela,Ram-Leela”.
According to sources,Additional District Judge A S Jayachandra on Tuesday heard arguments on behalf of the petitioners and issued an “ex-parte ad-interim stay” against the using the name Ram-Leela while releasing the film on Friday.
“The judge has allowed the interim application and the producers are restrained from using title name Ram-Leela scheduled to be released on November 15 till the next date of hearing,i.e. December 5,2013,” Praveen Choudhury and Prayank Kumar Sharma,two of the counsels claiming to represent petitioners in the case mentioned.
The order from the district court comes a month after the Delhi High Court had dismissed a PIL seeking a ban on Ram-Leela. The High Court had also imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the NGO that filed the PIL.
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According to the petition,the term “Ramlila” has been historically associated with the plays depicting the life of Hindu god Ram. Since the movie is based on a love story and is not related to the conventional meaning attributed to Ramlila,the petitioners claim that the producers are “deliberately and intentionally” using the term to attain commercial success.
“The commercial exploitation of the word ‘Ramlila’ amounts to infringement. The defendants cannot be allowed to misuse the same for their commercial venture,” the petition said.
Mentioning that the songs and dialogues of the film were “vulgar”,the petition also claims that the film is “hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus”.
Besides a stay on the use of the title,the petitioners have also prayed for “a token damage of
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Rs 5,51,000” to be paid to any charitable institution for “commercial exploitation of the word” and “portraying Ramlila in bad light,hurting the sentiments of population having faith and belief in Lord Ram”.
