KOCHI: The controversy over the use of the name Janaki in the film JSK – Janaki v/s State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, saw a new development on Wednesday with the film's producers informing the Kerala High Court that they are willing to incorporate the suggestions made by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Accordingly, changes will be made to the subtitle of the movie, modifying it from Janaki to Janaki V. With this change, the revised title of the film will be JSK – Janaki V v/s State of Kerala.
When the petition filed by Cosmos Entertainments, Tamil Nadu the producer of the film seeking a directive to grant censor certificate, the counsel for the CBFC suggested to remove the character's name from the film's subtitle or change it to "Janaki V" or "V Janaki," as the character's full name is Janaki Vidhyadharan. The second is to mute the name "Janaki" from a cross-examination scene.
The counsel for the producer also said that they are ready to mute the name Janaki or substitute the name appearing from 1:06:45 to 1:08:32 and from 1:08:33 to 1:08:36. Then the Counsel for the Board submitted that when these changes are made and the edited versions is re-submitted, the certificate can be granted within a further period of three days.
Justice N Nagaresh directed the producer to submit the revised/modified version at the earliest before the CBFC. The court also directed the Board to issue the censor certificate within a further period of three days.
The Board submitted that the Board initially suggested 96 cuts to the filmmakers. However, now only two cuts are deemed sufficient. "No other changes are required," he added. In an affidavit filed before the High Court, the Board denied the contention that the title is not provocative, vulgar, offensive or violative of any other guidelines as the title of the film is "JSK-Janaki v/s State of Kerala which is named after goddes 'Janaki/Site' to highlight that 'Janaki' is a victim of heinous crime.