Ready to change name of film, say producers; Court considering Janaki case

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court is considering the plea connected to the controversial film 'Janaki vs State of Kerala'. The producers informed the court that they are ready to change the name of the film to ‘V Janaki’. The censor board had told the high court this morning that permission would be given if two changes are made in the film. Justice N Nagaresh had asked the producers of the film to express their opinion when the case is considered again in the afternoon.

One of the changes proposed by the censor board is to add the initials of the character Janaki Vidyadharan, along with the name in the film making it 'V Janaki' or 'Janaki V'. The second change is to mute the mention of the name Janaki in the court scenes. The producers agreed to both these changes.

The censor board said in its affidavit that the producers of the film used the name Janaki intentionally. The name Janaki is a synonym for Sita in Ramayana. Using that name would offend a religious group. The censor board had clarified that it was not right for the lawyer to ask whether the character Janaki uses drugs or watches pornographic videos in the court scenes. The censor board had earlier said that nod would be given if 96 changes were made.

The high court while considering the case had earlier asked the censor board whether it was interfering with the artist's freedom of expression and whose sentiments the name 'Janaki' was hurting. Justice N Nagaresh had also directed to give a clear reason for the demand to remove the name 'Janaki' from the title and dialogue of the film. The high court then said the pleas would be considered after watching the film last Saturday. The film was screened before Justice N Nagaresh at Lal Media, Palarivattom at 10 am on Saturday.