Janaki: Film offends faith, distorts deity, Censor board tells Kerala High Court
In the censorship row over the Malayalam film JSK: Janaki vs. State of Kerala, the film's producers have agreed to modify the film’s title and make two minor cuts, following objections raised by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
In a hearing before the Kerala High Court on Wednesday, Cosmos Entertainment, producers of the film, informed the bench that the movie’s title will now be altered to Janaki V v/s State of Kerala or V Janaki v/s State of Kerala to suit the character's full name, Janaki Vidhyadharan, and the word “Janaki” will be muted in two scenes. This comes after the CBFC initially demanded as many as 96 cuts, citing concerns about religious sensitivity and public order.
The bench of Justice N. Nagaresh directed the filmmakers to submit this modified version to the CBFC, and the Board has been ordered to issue the certificate within three days of submission.
Advocates Abhinav Chandrachud and Janay Jain appeared for the Board before the high court.
The Board’s objections, detailed in a counter affidavit filed before the court, raised serious constitutional, religious, and communal concerns over the portrayal of the film’s lead character and the narrative structure.
Goddess Name Misused
According to the Board, naming the lead character "Janaki", a name commonly associated with Goddess Sita, was not a trivial creative choice, but a deliberate invocation of religious identity that, in the context of the film’s plot, could offend deeply held beliefs.
"...allowing films like the subject film, wherein a lead character is depicted as a rape victim while bearing the name of a revered deity such as Goddess Sita/Janaki, would pose serious concerns for public public order. Moreover, permitting such films for public exhibition would set a dangerous precedent and open a 'pandora's box' for future productions," the affidavit stated.
Offensive Courtroom Scenes
The affidavit pointed to multiple scenes where the protagonist, a rape survivor named Janaki, is cross-examined in court and asked degrading questions—whether she watches porn, uses drugs to enhance sexual pleasure, had boyfriends or was pregnant before the assault. The CBFC said that "posing of such provocative questions to a character named after Goddess Sita will have the tendency to disrupt public order and offend religious sentiments".
The Board contended that the Petitioner could have simply altered the name of the lead character as well as the film’s title to eliminate any religious connotations. This, it argued, would have safeguarded the film’s core messaging and artistic vision, without provoking religious sentiments or posing a threat to public order.
“Religiously Charged” Narrative
The Board flagged concerns over what it called a “religiously charged subplot", where the character is assisted by a man from one religion while being aggressively questioned in court by a person from another. This, the CBFC argued, risked creating a “divisive narrative” and inflaming communal tensions.
"This religious dichotomy in the treatment of a character bearing Goddess Sita's sacred name has the potential to inflame communal tensions and create divisive narratives between religious groups," the affidavit read.
Pan-India Release, Pan-India Impact
With the film set to release in five languages—Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi—the Board warned that these concerns were not confined to Kerala alone. The religious undertones, it said, could cause disruptions across regions.
Further, responding to arguments that the film’s teaser had already been certified, the CBFC clarified that trailers are evaluated in isolation and without access to the full script. Certification of the trailer, it said, cannot be used to claim entitlement to a certificate for the full film.
With certification now underway, the film is expected to release shortly.
Case Title: Cosmos Entertainments vs. The Regional Office, CBFC and Ors