“Let them watch the movie": Delhi HC directs makers of ‘FARAAZ’ to resolve dispute with Dhaka Terror attack victims' mothers

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Filmmaker Hansal Mehta and producers of the upcoming movie ‘Faraaz’ to sit down with the mothers of the victims of the 2016 Dhaka Terror attack and try to resolve the dispute.

The court was hearing a plea by women who are mothers of the victim of the Dhaka, Bangladesh terror attack seeking a stay on the release of the movie ‘Faraaz’. The women were challenging the release of the movie through their plea that was rejected by a single-judge bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna in October 2022.

While hearing the present plea, a division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh said, “If you are naming the movie Faraaz, then you should know what Ahmed Faraaz stood for. If you wish to be sensitive about the sentiments of a mother, then talk to her,"

Justice Mridul also recited a couplet by Ahmed Faraz which read:

"Shikva-e-zulmat-e-shab se to kahīñ behtar thā apne hisse kī koī shama jalāte jaate; is kī vo jaane use pās-e-vafā thā ki na thā tum 'farāz' apnī taraf se to nibhāte jaate. [Rather than complaining about the darkness of night, you could have lit lamps; Only they know whether they were honest in love or not, at least you, Faraz, should have been true.]"

Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal appearing for the petitioner-mothers contended that: "They did not even come to the family; that’s been their approach. The learned single-judge holds that since the girls are deceased there can be no right to privacy as regards their lives...That cannot be the approach. The question is whether the parents will have the right to privacy in relation to the lives of their daughters”.

The court ruled that it could not stay the release of the film, which is set to be released on February 3, 2023, because all of the details are already in the public domain.

The court said, “People like sensational movies. People like movies based on real incidents. Not a single holocaust that mankind has ever experienced has not been put on celluloid.”

Justice Mridul said, "Let them watch the movie! It may just eliminate their fears, after they view the film, they might not even have any objection." Accordingly, the bench listed the matter for January 24.

Single-Judge bench order:

In October 2022, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna dismissed an application seeking direction to stay the release of Hansal Mehta’s movie ‘FARAAZ’ based on the 2016 Dhaka terrorist attack. The plea sought directions against Hansal Mehta, Bhushan Kumar Dua, Anubhav Sinha, and M/s. Mahana Films.

"The plaintiffs have not been able to establish any of the three limbs i.e. prima facie case, the balance of convenience or irreparable loss or injury in their favour", the judge had noted.

The High Court while pronouncing its judgment had vacated the ad-interim order that had temporarily stayed the makers from screening the movie. The court had dismissed the application for temporary injunction filed by the grieving mothers thereby allowing the movie to be released.

While dismissing the application, Justice Bansal had noted that “the defamation, as already discussed above, is a personal right and is not pre-emptive in nature.”

Case Title: RUBA AHMED & ORS. Vs. HANSAL MEHTA & ORS.