Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Censor Board to file its reply on a PIL against the upcoming movie ‘Adipurush’. The petition, filed by a Kuldeep Tiwari, objects that the makers have released the teaser without the censor board's review, even as the clothes worn by Sita and the portrayal of Lord Ram in the movie are also problematic. The bench has fixed February 21 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
The order was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Brijraj Singh on a PIL that has named Om Raut, the producer, and director of the film as the despondent along with actors Prabhash, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan playing the roles of Ram, Sita, and Ravana respectively. Actors Devdutt Nage playing the role of Hanuman and Sunny Singh playing the role of Laxman have also been named.
Petitioner's advocate Ranjana Agnihotri while addressing the court said that the filmmakers have released the teaser of the movie without obtaining the certificate from the board, thereby violating the rules. The plea also objects that the actress playing the role of Sita has been shown in 'promiscuous clothes' in the movie promo. It further highlights the problematic portrayal of Lord Ram which is allegedly 'indecent' in the movie. "The traditional image of Lord Rama is calm and decent but in the teaser of the film, he is shown as a vengeful and angry person," the plea states.
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The look of Ravana is also on the list of things stated as objectionable in the petition. The plea claims that all these things can 'hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community due to such portrayal of Hindu mythological characters', further adding that the fundamental form of Ramayana cannot be tampered with under the guise of freedom of expression. "Ramayana is a part of the country's culture, civilization, spirituality, and religion, and it should not be tampered with," the plea states.
