The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said it watched actor Annu Kapoor-starrer "Hamare Baarah" movie and found nothing objectionable in it that was against the Quran or the Muslim community.
Annu Kapoor's 'Hamare Baarah' was initially slated for release on June 7 and then on June 14. (File photo)
Mumbai,UPDATED: Jun 19, 2024 04:08 IST
Edited By: Shweta Kumari
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said it watched actor Annu Kapoor-starrer "Hamare Baarah" movie and found nothing objectionable in it that was against the Quran or the Muslim community or that would incite violence. The bench, however, added that the first trailer was objectionable.
The bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla during the hearing expressed that it would be imposing costs on the makers of the film "Hamare Baarah" for releasing the trailer of the film even before receiving certification from the censor board.
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Regarding the trailer, the bench told the filmmakers, "Violation was there vis a vis the trailer. So you will have to pay something towards a charity of the petitioner's choice. Costs will have to be paid. This litigation has got the film so much unpaid publicity."
The bench said it agreed with the petitioners that the trailer and the posters were troublesome.
The court cautioned the filmmakers to also be careful and not include dialogues and scenes under the garb of creative freedom to hurt the sentiments of any religion. "Makers should also be careful what they put out. They cannot hurt the sentiments of any religion. They (Muslim) are the second-largest religion in this country," the court said.
The bench said there is a scene in the film where the character threatens to kill his daughter and then takes the name of god. During the day-long hearing, the bench said, "That maybe objectionable. Doing something like this in the name of god may send a wrong signal. Removing this one line will not cause any hinder to the creative freedom of the maker," the high court said.
It added that it was surprised that the petitioners were making such statements against the movie when they had not even seen the movie. The movie is about a dominant man and his family, the bench said.
The petitioners claimed that the movie promotes domestic violence, to which the bench said, "Domestic violence is a reality, and it is not about a particular religion. It happens in all religions."
The court noted that the trailer has been removed, and objectionable scenes have already been deleted from the movie. The court noted that in fact the movie was a "thinking movie" and not the sort where the audience is expected to "keep their brains at home" and only enjoy the movie.
"The movie is in fact for the upliftment of women. The movie has a Maulana misinterpreting the Quran and, in fact, one Muslim man objects to the same in the scene. So this shows that people should apply their minds and not blindly follow such Maulanas," the bench said.
The movie was initially slated for release on June 7 and then on June 14.
A bunch of petitions was filed in the high court earlier this month seeking a ban on the movie claiming that it was derogatory towards the Muslim community and had distorted what the Quran says.
While initially the high court postponed the release of the movie, it later permitted the release after the makers said the objectionable portions would be deleted as directed by the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC).
The petitioners then moved the Supreme Court, which, last week, stayed the release of the film and directed the high court to hear and take the appropriate decision.
The court said it has some suggestions over few scenes which may still be a bit objectionable.
The bench said if all the parties concerned agree to the deletion of the objectionable parts, then consent terms could be submitted, after which the court would pass an order on Wednesday permitting release of the movie.
"We don't think there is anything in the film that would incite any violence. If we felt so, we would be the first ones to object to it. The Indian public is not so gullible or that silly," the court said.
Published By:
Shweta Kumari
Published On:
Jun 19, 2024
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