Adipurush: The Allahabad High Court directed the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to file affidavits in two PILs challenging objectionable dialogues and scenes in the film Adipurush. The court said how the censor board passed this film. Passing the film is a blunder. If you try to make a short documentary on the Quran and the Bible, in which the facts are wrong, you will know what can happen.
Do not touch Quran and Bible like this
Questioning the mindset of the makers of the film, a bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Sriprakash Singh further said that holy scriptures like Quran and Bible should not be touched in this manner.
The court also said that the way the religious characters of Ramayana have been portrayed in the film, the sentiments of the people might have been hurt. The court said that in the recent past it has come across several films in which Hindu gods and goddesses have been shown in a humorous manner.
If we keep our mouth shut then such incidents will increase.
The court said that if we shut our mouth today, you know what will happen? These incidents are increasing day by day. I saw a movie in which Lord Shankar was shown running with his trident in a very strange way. Now, will these things be performed? As movies do business, filmmakers make money.
Suppose if you make even a small documentary on Quran, depicting the wrong things, you will see what will happen. However, let me clarify once again that this is not about any one religion. It is a coincidence that the issue pertains to Ramayana, otherwise the court is of all religions.
court has no religion
The Court clarified that the issue is not about any one religion, but, a particular religion should not be portrayed in bad light. Emphasizing that the Court has no religion of its own, the Court said that its only concern is the maintenance of law and order.
Significantly, the Court also clarified that it has not yet passed any concrete order in the matter and the oral observations of the Court were related to the present issue.
The court quipped that but you will see that by evening all these things will be published (in the media).
What was going through the mind of the filmmakers?
After a hearing that lasted for about an hour on Tuesday, the court heard the matter again on Wednesday. The court wondered what was going through the minds of the filmmakers of ‘Adipurush’ when they came up with the film. The Court emphasized that nobody thinks about the characters of Ramayana in the way the filmmakers have portrayed it.
extremely pathetic characters
The court said that does anyone imagine that religious characters would exist in the way they are shown in the film? Do we imagine our God to be like this from the costumes the characters wear in the film? Ramcharitmanas is a holy book, people recite it before leaving their homes and you portray it in such a pathetic way?
The Court also noted that the issue before the Court is that all the characters of Ramayana, who are widely worshiped by the people, have been shown in pathetic manner. When the court questioned why CBFC passed such a film and it made a big mistake by certifying such a film.
Blessed are the cultured people of the censor board
In response to this when the Deputy SGI said that the certificate was given by a board with sensible members. The court jokingly said that if such ‘cultured’ people are watching such a film, then they are indeed blessed. The court said, you are saying that people of culture have certified this film (referring to the board members) where Ramayana is shown like this then those people are blessed.
some people could not watch the full movie
The bench also said that it asked several people for their views on the film and found that the film was intolerable and some could not even complete the film as they could not stand the wrong portrayal of Hindu gods and goddesses. The court said that some people could not watch the entire film. People who respect Lord Ram, Lord Laxman and Maa Sita cannot watch such a film.
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