Mumbai:

Kangana Ranaut’s movie ‘Emergency’, at the centre of a massive row after Sikh organisations opposed its release, got no relief from the Bombay High Court today. The court said it cannot ask the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue a certificate to the film’s makers as it would contradict a Madhya Pradesh High Court order.

Despite the setback, the actor and BJP MP claimed a win in court. “High court has blasted censor for illegally withholding the certificate of #emergency,” she said in a post on X.

The movie is co-produced by Ms Ranaut’s Manikarnika Films and Zee Studios. With the film earlier scheduled for a release on September 6, Zee Entertainment Enterprises approached the Bombay High Court, seeking a direction to Censor Board to issue the certificate that would clear the decks for the film’s release. The setback in Bombay High Court means that the movie is unlikely to release anytime soon.

READ:“Sensitive Content”: Government Sources On Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Emergency‘

The movie, based on the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975, ran into trouble after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the apex religious body for Sikhs, alleged that it misrepresents Sikhs and sought a ban. Ms Ranaut later said the Censor Board had put on hold the certificate issued to her film. Sources in the government said some religious organisations have raised concerns about the film. “Religious sentiments cannot be hurt. There is some sensitive content in the movie,” a source said, adding that the Centre was seriously looking at the concerns.  

READ: Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Emergency’ Stuck In Massive Row. What Are The Objections

Two Sikh organisations filed a Public Interest Litigation against the movie in Madhya Pradesh High Court. In its response, the Censor Board told the court that the movie had not been issued a certificate. The court then disposed of the petition.

Arguing the matter in court, Zee’s counsel, Senior Advocate Venkatesh Dhond, told the bench of Justice BP Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla that CBFC informed Manikarnika Films on August 8 that film is suitable for unrestricted public exhibition, subject to some modifications. On August 14, he said, the film’s makers submitted the film to CBFC with the modifications.

On August 29, Manikarnika received an email from CBFC stating that the CD is sealed and requested Kangana Ranaut to collect the certificate. But later, the certificate was not handed over, apparently following the opposition from Sikh communities.

Mr Dhond agued that CBFC is a censor body and “not an authority to look after the law and order situation”. “The maker of the film is a sitting MP. They gave her a censor certificate and could have simply said, look we have given the censor certificate and now if there is unrest, the State can take care of the same. They cannot say that now that there is an unrest, we will rethink the certification.”

Appearing for CBFC, Advocate Abhinav Chandrachud said the certificate is not issued until it is signed by the Censor Board’s chairperson. He also pointed out that the Bombay High Court cannot ask CBFC to issue the certificate as it would be in breach of the Madhya Pradesh High Court order.

The court rejected CBFC’s contention that the certificate had not been issued yet.

“Once the makers comply with the modifications required by the CBFC and the CD with modifications is sealed successfully, we have to presume that the CBFC applied its mind and thereafter issued the email to Manikarnika that the CD of the film is successfully sealed,” the bench said.

The court, however, said that the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order was based on the Centre’s submission that the film isn’t certified yet and that it is under examination.

Denying relief to the film’s makers, the court said, “We are unable to pass this direction in light of the fact that the MP High Court has specifically directed the CBFC to consider the representations of the Jabalpur Sikh Sangat before certifying the film. If we were to direct the CBFC to issue the certificate, we would have breached the division bench’s directive.”

“Judicial Propriety demands such orders ought not be passed. We therefore, are unable to direct the CBFC to issue the certificate as sought by the petitioner. We however, do not dispose of the present petition. And we direct the CBFC to consider the objections, if any.”

When Mr Chandrachud said that the Board needs to consider other objections too and may take time to decide them, the court said, “No but you cannot keep it open ended. Movies are released on Fridays. There are crores and crores of money invested in this.” He replied, “CBFC cannot be held ransom”.

The bench asked CBFC to decide the representations before the next hearing on September 19.

New Delhi:

Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming movie Emergency is caught in a controversy after Sikh organisations objected to its release and accused the film’s makers of misrepresenting the Sikh community and twisting historical facts. The actor and BJP MP has said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has put its clearance to the movie on hold after its members received death threats.

What Is ‘Emergency’ About?

The film, starring Ms Ranaut in the lead role, is based on the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975. Also starring Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade and Milind Soman, it is a dramatic representation of the 21-month period that is considered a dark phase for Indian democracy. It also touches upon Mrs Gandhi’s assassination and the Khalistan movement led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the 1980s. The script has been written by Ms Ranaut and the film is co-produced by Zee Studios and the actor’s Manikarnika Films.

The film was earlier scheduled for a release last year, but it was postponed to June this year. Owing to the Lok Sabha election, it was postponed again and the release date was September 6. With the film now awaiting the Censor nod, it is not clear when the movie will hit the screens.

What Are The Objections?

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an apex body managing Sikh religious institutions, has sent a legal notice to the film’s producers. They have said that the movie misrepresents Sikhs and historical facts. A week after the film’s trailer released last month, Akal Takht and SGPC demanded an immediate ban on the movie.

According to a PTI report, SGPC secretary has said they have written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the CBFC, seeking a ban on the film. The trailer had “anti-Sikh” scenes and this has “deeply hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community”, he said.

Gurcharan Singh Grewal, general secretary of SGPC, told news agency ANI that it is good that the Censor Board has halted the film’s release. “The matter pertains to not just Sikhs, but also concerns of harmony in the country.”

Kangana Ranaut’s Response

The actor-filmmaker said there is “pressure on us not to depict the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Bhindrawale, and the Punjab riots in the film”. “This raises the question – what can we actually show in the film? That the film blacks out all of a sudden?” she has said.

Amid the row over Netflix webseries IC 814, the BJP MP said that the law of the land is that “one can show unimaginable amount of violence and nudity on OTT platforms without any consequence or censorship”. “One can even distort real life events to suit their politically motivated sinister motives, there is all the freedom for communists or leftists across the world for such anti national expressions but as a nationalist no OTT platform allows us to make films that revolves around the integrity and unity of Bharat, it seems censorship is only for some of us who don’t want tukde of this nation and make films on historic facts. It’s hugely demotivating and unjust,” she said in a post on X.

Makers Move Court

The Zee Entertainment Enterprises, co-producer of the film, has approached the Bombay High Court, seeking a direction to CBFC to issue the clearance certificate to ‘Emergency’. The court is hearing the matter. The petition has accused the Censor Board of “illegally and arbitrarily” withholding the film’s certification. The Censor Board told the court that the certificate had been issued, but is now on hold.

Zee said CBFC is is taking a “very convenient half-measure”. “The maker of the film is a sitting MP. They gave her a censor certificate and could have simply said, look we have given the censor certificate and now if there is unrest, the State can take care of the same. They cannot say that now that there is an unrest, we will rethink the certification,” Zee told the court. “CBFC is a censor body and not an authority to look after the law and order situation in the State.”

Mumbai:

Zee Entertainment Enterprises on Tuesday moved the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue certificate for the film “Emergency”, helmed by Kangana Ranaut.

The court agreed to hear it on Wednesday. Zee Entertainment is the producer of the film.

Scheduled for release on September 6, the biographical drama is caught up in controversy after Sikh organisations including the Shiromani Akali Dal objected, accusing it of misrepresenting the community and getting historical facts wrong.

The petition before the high court claimed that the CBFC has “illegally and arbitrarily” withheld the certification.

As per a lawyer, the petition claimed that the Censor board was ready with the certificate, but not issuing it.

The plea was mentioned before a division bench of Justices B P Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla for urgent hearing. The bench agreed to hear it on Wednesday.

Kangana Ranaut, who has directed and co-produced the film besides playing the lead role of former prime minister late Indira Gandhi, on Monday accused the CBFC of stalling certification to delay the release.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)