HC issues notice to CBFC, producers of film Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond

The Kerala High Court has issued notice to the producers of the Hindi feature film Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), in response to a plea that challenged the issuing of censor certificate to the film.

The film is scheduled to be released on February 27. A Bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas issued the notice on a plea for an interim stay by Kannur resident Sreedev Namboodiri who alleged that the certificate was issued without complying with the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952. He said that the film’s teaser and trailer portray narratives involving women from multiple States, although the title refers to ‘Kerala Story’, thus associating alleged incidents of terrorism and forced conversion exclusively to the State.

Referring to the first film in the series, The Kerala Story, which generated ‘serious controversy due to false claims’, he alleged that the upcoming film has the potential to stigmatise an entire regional population, disturb public order and incite communal and religious disharmony. Despite these, certification was given, without properly examining its impact on public order, decency and morality, aspects mandated in the Cinematograph Act.

Moreover, the concluding statements in the teaser and trailer call for retaliatory action, and creating a real and imminent apprehension of law and order issues, he said. The matter has been posted for hearing on Tuesday.