Pleas Against ‘The Kerala Story 2’ Premature, Misconceived: Producer to Kerala HC

Kochi:The producer of ‘The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond’ told the Kerala High Court that the objections against the film’s release were “premature, misconceived and unsustainable”. The application was made by the film’s producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Judge Bechu Kurian Thomas said he will hear the petitions in detail at 15:00 on Wednesday.

In his affidavit, Shah also claimed that the censor board CBFC is the only expert authority constituted under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, to examine films in their entirety and certify them for public exhibition.

“This court’s supervisory jurisdiction does not extend to substituting its own assessment of the content of a film for the expert judgment of the certifying authority,” he said in his affidavit.

He has also denied the prosecution in the pleas against the movie and termed them as “an abuse and misuse of the process of law”.

Referring to the plea of ​​the first petitioner, Sreedev Namboodiri of Kannavam in Kannur district, Shah alleged that it was done with “malicious intent and ulterior motive to derive financial benefit from him”.

The producer said that the promotional images of the film were released 16 days before the defense was made.

He also said that the exhibition of a certified film cannot be limited to just a two-minute teaser without reviewing the entire film.

It further said that granting prior restraint at the threshold without reviewing the entire film, finding no prima facie legal invalidity in the CBFC’s decision and based on a teaser, “will amount to inflicting catastrophic and irreversible economic damage to the defendant (producer), thousands of exhibitors and distribution partners across the country.”

“The film in question is planned to be released in more than 1,800 theaters in India and abroad,” Shah said.

Regarding the title of the film, he said that the phrase ‘Going Beyond’ in the title of the film was “not decorative”.

“This is a deliberate and eye-catching textual signal that is prominently displayed at multiple timestamps in the teaser, indicating that the film’s narrative extends beyond the geography of Kerala.

“The definitive ‘The’ in the title is a reference to the first film in the series and does not restrict the subject of the film to Kerala only,” the affidavit said. The statement was included.

He also said that if there is a concern of collective action or protest affecting public order, the state must take steps to prevent it and cannot result in stopping the screening of a film.

“A scenario in which any person or group could effectively veto the release of a certified film simply by threatening disorder would render meaningless both the CBFC certification process and the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression,” the affidavit said.

The court had observed orally on Tuesday that the teasers and trailers of the film portrayed a state like Kerala in a wrong light, where everyone lives in communal harmony.

The court also observed that using the name of the state and claiming that the film was based on facts could lead to communal tensions in the state.

In three separate cases, it was sought to cancel the public viewing certificate given to ‘The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond’, which was scheduled to be released on February 27.

One of the three pleas was made by Sreedev Namboodiri from Kannavam in Kannur district; He listed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah as respondents in the writ petition filed last week.

Namboodiri’s petition, filed through lawyer Maitreyi Sachidananda Hegde, seeks cancellation of his certification as well as changes, including reconsideration of his title.

The petitioner alleged that the film was approved for public viewing by the CBFC, allegedly without complying with the statutory authority under the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

According to the petition, the complaint arises from the film’s teaser and trailer, which depicts narratives involving women from multiple states but brands the content as ‘Kerala Story’, thereby linking the alleged incidents of terrorism, forced conversion and demographic conspiracy to the state of Kerala only.

The petition stated that “Such a depiction carries the potential to stigmatize the entire population of the region, disrupt public order and incite social and regional disharmony.”