The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Regional Office, Thiruvananthapuram, to issue appropriate certification for the Malayalam film Kathakali in four weeks.
Justice P.B. Suresh Kumar issued the directive while disposing of a writ petition filed by Saijo Kannanaikkal, director and producer of the film, challenging the CBFC’s demand of three cuts in the film for granting certification.
According to the petitioner, the CBFC wanted him to delete three scenes in the film.
Though he had deleted objectionable words from one scene, the board wanted him to remove two other scenes on the ground that it showed nudity. The petitioner contended that it was “a non-sexual nudity” and was part of the story.
Not vulgar: director
He said that a washerman, the principal character in the film, appears in the clothes of someone else for the purpose of impressing a girl. The master washerman, on detecting the foul play, unclothes him with a good thrash. To make that scene perfect, a little nudity was necessary, if partial visibility of a buttock was nudity. In the end, the main character, in total dejection and despair, removes his Kathakali attire along with his inner clothes and crosses the river and disappears into the wilderness. The scene, as the culmination of the film conveys many things, which by any stretch of imagination cannot be deemed vulgar or prurient.
The CBFC submitted that it had no objection to granting the film “A” certification if the petitioner makes a formal request. The petitioner had never informed the board of his decision to consider his film for “A” certificate so that nudity, for the sake of creativity, could be retained. Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was not particular about the nature of certification and that the only requirement of the petitioner was that film should be certified for public screening.
