Some give, some take as filmmaker and censor board meet midway on Janaki v/s State of Kerala

The stand had prompted the producers to approach the high court.

At the hearing Wednesday, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the court that it was ready to issue a screening certificate for the Malayalam film if the producers agreed to change the title from Janaki to V Janaki.

Following the climbdown on both sides, the single-judge bench of Justice N Nagaresh, in an interim order, directed the producers to submit a revised version before CBFC. The board, meanwhile, was asked to issue a certificate within three days.

The Bench of Justice V Nagaresh, who viewed the movie last Saturday, will consider it on July 16. The movie, initially scheduled for release on June 27, has already been delayed, with producers now saying they were tentatively looking at July 18 for release.

While making its arguments in court, the CBFC argued that the name of the protagonist is Janaki Vidhyadharan, and V can consequently be included in the title. The board also made a climb down from its earlier stand, saying that it was proposing only two changes in the film instead of the 96 it had demanded earlier. It also said while protecting the larger interest, it was demanding a minimum modification.

Rajya Sabha Member and advocate Haris Beeran, who appeared for the film makers, said: “The producers took a commercial call on the issue as any delay in getting the screening certificate will lead to huge loss for them. If we fight, we are confident to win the case, but still there is a window of appeal for both parties, which will only delay release of the film. We don’t want to see the film going into a major crisis. We agreed to the suggestion after taking a commercial call on the issue”.

In earlier hearings, the court had taken strong exception to the CBFC’s stand. “Now you will dictate to directors and artists which names they should use and which stories they should tell. What is wrong with Janaki? How is it contemptuous of a religion? … That is the freedom of artists,’’ the court said.

When the petitioner said the film is about the fight of a rape survivor and Janaki is the name of the protagonist, the court wondered, “Janaki is not a rapist. If a rapist is named as Rama, Krishna, Janaki, then I can understand. The heroine is fighting for justice, what is the problem with that name?”

The courtroom drama follows Janaki, a woman who seeks justice after a traumatic event.

While actor Anupama Parameswaran plays V Janaki, actor-politician Suresh Gopi plays a senior advocate representing her in court.