The producers of Suresh Gopi-starrer JSK: Janaki v/s State of Kerala on Wednesday told the Kerala High Court that they were ready to change the title of the movie to V Janaki v/s State of Kerala.
Earlier in the day, 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.
Subsequently, the bench of Justice N Nagaresh, in an interim order, directed the CBFC to issue a screening certificate for the movie within three days after the stated changes are made.
The board 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.
The release of the movie, scheduled for June 27, was delayed after the CBFC demanded changes to the title as well as the name of the protagonist, who is fighting for justice in a rape case. The CBFC denied the certificate on the ground that Janaki is also a name for Goddess Sita. This prompted the producers to approach the High Court.
When the matter came up for hearing, the producers informed the court that they are ready to mute the name, Janaki, at two places. The CBFC had suggested muting the name on two occasions related to a court scene in the movie.
On Tuesday, both sides were ready for a climbdown. The Bench of Justice V Nagaresh, who viewed the movie last Saturday, will consider the case a week later.
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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?’’
