Telangana High Court halts RGV’s Vyooham movie release

The court scrapped the censor certificate to the movie and directed the Central Board of Film Certification to review the movie again and submit a report in three weeks.

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court on Monday halted the release of Ram Gopal Varma’s Vyooham movie, which is reportedly based on the political situations in Andhra Pradesh.

The single judge Bench of the High Court on Monday pronounced orders, extending the suspension for another three weeks.

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Justice Surepalli Nanda directed the Revising Committee of the Censor Board to once again review the movie and delete objectionable scenes. The panel was told to take a decision on issuing a new censor certificate within three weeks.

The court on January 11 had reserved orders on the petition by producer Dasari Kiran Kumar, who pleaded for vacating the interim order suspending release of the movie in theatres.

The producer’s counsel A Venkatesh submitted to the court that if it believes that the film may influence the forthcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh, it may give permission for the release in Telangana. However, the counsel of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) General Secretary Nara Lokesh, raised an objection. The film, which is allegedly defamatory towards former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP President, N Chandrababu Naidu, was scheduled to release on December 29.

Naidu’s son and TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh had approached the High Court, challenging the censor certificate for the movie.

On December 28, the High Court suspended the release on the ground that the Revising Committee failed to state reasons for granting a Certificate of Exhibition, when initially the application had been rejected noting a series of irregularities. The court observed that the Revising Committee granted the certificate though no major deletions or changes were made.

The court had directed the Central Board of Film Certification, Revising Committee, and producer of the movie to place all records pertaining to the movie before it.

The film is said to be about the conditions surrounding the passing of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and the political entry of his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is now the Chief Minister.

Lokesh had filed a petition in the Telangana High Court challenging the certificate for the theatrical release of the movie alleging attempts to spoil the image of Chandrababu Naidu in the controversial movie.

The TDP leader’s counsel had argued that the entire film contained defamatory remarks against Chandrababu Naidu. The film allegedly portrays Naidu as the antagonist and Jagan Mohan Reddy as the protagonist.

On January 2, the film’s producer had approached a Division Bench of the High Court challenging the interim order.

His counsel submitted that the film-maker has suffered loss of crores of rupees due to its release being suspended. However, the court had refused to interfere with the single judge order.