The Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) informed the Bombay High Court on Thursday that actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s film, “Emergency”, can be released as long as the cuts recommended by its revision committee are implemented.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by the movie’s co-producers, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, which sought the censor certificate to release their film.
Last week, the court had directed the CBFC to take a final call by September 25.
Initially slated for release on September 6, “Emergency” faced complaints about historical inaccuracies and misrepresentations of the Sikh community. The film is based on the Emergency declared in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Several Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Akali Dal, have objected to the film.
Accepting the CBFC’s concerns, the court noted, “it is not for CBFC to decide whether this affects public order.”
Justice BP Colabawalla, part of the division bench hearing the case, remarked that Ranaut’s production is not a documentary and asked, “Do you think public is so naive they will believe everything in a movie? What about creative freedom?”
The court also stated that the CBFC “can’t sit on the fence.”
“Take a decision. Let’s see what the revising committee says; be it deciding to release or not, take a decision. Have the courage to say that the film should not be released. We will appreciate the stand of the CBFC,” the bench directed.
Abhinav Chandrachud, the counsel for the CBFC, told the court that certain scenes depict a polarising figure cutting a deal with political parties. “We have to see if this is factually accurate,” he said.
“The committee has suggested some cuts before a certificate can be issued and the movie can be released,” Chandrachud told the court today.
Senior counsel Sharan Jagtiani, representing Zee Entertainment, requested time to determine whether the cuts could be made. The bench then scheduled the matter for September 30.
Zee Entertainment had alleged that the certificate was being withheld in the view of next month’s assembly elections in Haryana. The bench raised questions about why the ruling party would act against Ranaut, who is a BJP MP.
Kangana Ranaut, who directed and co-produced the film and plays Indira Gandhi, also accused the CBFC of stalling the certification process to delay the film’s release.
Meanwhile, Ranaut claimed she was forced to sell her assets due to the delayed censor certificate.
“I had staked my personal property on this film… which was supposed to come in theatres. Now it is not releasing, so the property is there, to be sold off in difficult times,” she said on X.
