The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has demanded the makers of the Malayalam film, Haal to remove several scenes from the films, including one in which the characters are consuming beef biryani, for the film to be certified for exhibition.
Similar to the case of the Malayalam film JSK – Janaki Vs State of Kerala, Haal, starring Shane Nigam and Sakshi Vaidya, was initially cleared by the regional censor office, but was held up by the officials at CBFC headquarters in Mumbai.
Filmmaker Veera told The Hindu that the producers had submitted the film for certification to the regional office in Thiruvananthapuram in the first week of September, with a plan to release it on September 10. Though the regional office conveyed that the film was as good as cleared, the makers were later told that the film had been sent to a revising committee.
Other than the beef biryani scene, some of the other scenes that were asked to be removed included one in which a character uses a purdah to hide her identity, another in which a few characters wearing a rakhi usually used by Sangh Parivar activists on their wrists, a scene where a character says ‘Dhwaja Pranamam’ (a greeting associated with the RSS) and a reference to ‘Ganapathi Vattam’ (the BJP had demanded that Sulthan Bathery’s name be changed to Ganapathi Vattam).
According to the CBFC, these scenes involved religious sensitivities and socio-cultural dynamics.
“The CBFC officials made such strange demands, and even told us that they will give only ‘A’ certificate for the movie even if we make these changes. They are claiming that the film has a hidden agenda. The film stands for the idea of inter-religious marriage, in which the individuals will continue to follow their respective religion without converting. It is a film which promotes communal harmony, but it seems the powers that be do not want the next generation to grow up with such ideas,” says Veera.
The makers of the film, with a budget of around ₹16 crore, have already postponed the release date of the film twice, first to September 19 and later to October 10.
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Moves HC
However, with the CBFC officials delaying the process, they approached the Kerala High Court, which on Thursday directed the Union government’s counsel to make clear its stand during the next hearing on October 14.
In the case of Janaki V. v/s State of Kerala, the CBFC cleared the film only after the makers removed all the references to ‘Janaki’ (another name for Goddess Sita) in the film.
Published – October 09, 2025 07:45 pm IST
