KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the regional officer of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to process the application submitted by the director and producer of the Malayalam film 'Aami' - a biopic on writer Madhavikutty alias Kamala Das - seeking to issue censor certificate in accordance with law and to take appropriate action.
The court issued the order on the petition filed by High Court lawyer K P Ramachandran seeking a directive to the CBFC regional officer not to issue censor certificate to the film. He also sought a directive to ban the exhibition of the film. The court made it clear pendency of the petition will not stand in the way of the authority under the Cinematograph Act and Rules to process the application by director Kamal and producers of the film Roban Rocha and Raphael P Thoma. The Central Government sought time for filing counter in the case.
The petitioner submitted if the film is shown in theatres, it would certainly trigger Hindu-Muslim clashes and will adversely affect the public order. The film is directed by omitting the real-life incidents of Madhavikutty, with a view to justifying ‘love jihad’. The conversion of Madhavikutty into Islam was the beginning of 'love jihad' in Kerala.