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The Kerala Story 2 plea continues in Kerala HC: Petitioners claim defamatory content; CBFC brings up Delhi Belly, Chennai Express
The Kerala Story 2 Goes Beyond is due for release on Friday. Kerala HC heard the plea regarding the fim's title and promotional material, which petitioners claim, is defamatory in nature.
A bench of justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan passed the order on the appeal moved by The Kerala Story 2's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah late Thursday night.
The Kerala Story 2 Goes Beyond is scheduled to release on February 27 and on Wednesday, the Kerala High Court continued its hearing for a plea challenging the film’s release. The matter was heard by Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, after the court had already expressed its interest in watching the film, but the makers were not keen on screening it. The plea was filed on the basis of what was shown in the teaser. The producers have, however, made it clear that the film does not carry the same content as the promotional material.
The counsel for the petitioner, Sreerag Shylan argued that the makers were promoting the film saying that it was based on true events, and that the title of the film defamed the state of Kerala. The other counsel for a second petitioner, Maitreyi Sachchidananda Hegde, said that the makers were using content that they cannot show in the theatres, and circulating it via social media. She also said that the petitioner was from Kerala and their reputation, and right to life was being affected by the film.
Maitreyi Sachchidananda Hegde added that the makers were claiming that the stories featured in their film were from Kerala, but the victims they introduced were not from the state. She also presented an exhibit that several unsavoury incidents took place in the country after the release of the first film. Sreerag Shylan produced documents saying that there were tensions reported in the state of Maharashtra after the release of the first film, The Kerala Story, in 2023.
A counsel representing CBFC was also present at the hearing. The court asked if they had any jurisdiction over the content that was being shared online, to which CBFC said that they did not. On the name of the film, CBFC said that films like Delhi Belly, Chennai Express, Delhi 6 are all named after places and someone could argue that they portray the said place in a bad light but that would be a never-ending debate.
S Sreekumar, representing the makers, was also present in the court. He questioned the locus standi (the right to bring a lawsuit) of the petitioner and said that they were not personally aggrieved. The day of the court ended in the middle of his arguments and the hearing will now continue on Thursday.
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