Delay in releasing Haal movie: HC posts hearing on Friday

With the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Centre seeking time to file their affidavit on a petition challenging the issuing of ‘A’ certificate and also the demand to remove half-a-dozen scenes in the Malayalam film Haal, the Kerala High Court posted the case for hearing on Friday.

The makers of the film claimed that the board’s revision committee had earlier this month sought the removal of half-a-dozen scenes in the movie that were critical to its theme. Among others, the board had reportedly sought the removal of a scene depicting the consumption of beef biriyani and one in which the heroine uses Muslim religious attire to hide her identity. It also sought blurring of ‘Rakhi’ in multiple scenes.

The movie, whose production works are over, was scheduled for release on September 12. The demand to remove multiple scenes will further delay its release and cause financial loss. Wearing of Muslim attire is common even in cultural festivals, the film-makers said.

In their plea filed earlier this month, they mentioned that almost ₹15 crore had been spent for the production of Haal “which shows no sort of violence or cruelty.” A few social evils might have been criticised and nothing in the movie promotes any kind of enmity or violence, they said and sought a system whereby censoring is done at two stages — one at the script stage and the other after completing the entire movie work.