Suresh Gopi-Anupama Parameswaran’s ‘Janaki V Vs State of Kerala’ gets OTT release date. Here’s when and where to watch the film:

The makers of Janaki V Vs State of Kerala, the controversial Malayalam film starring Suresh Gopi and Anupama Parameswaran, have announced the film’s OTT release. The Pravin Narayanan-directed courtroom drama will premiere on ZEE5 on Independence Day, August 15.

ZEE5 unveiled a new trailer of the film to announce the news. “Janaki, a woman silenced by society, rises with unshakable courage to take on the state itself. As the courtroom turns into a battlefield, her truth begins to shake the foundation of law and order,” reads the logline by the streamer. Anupama plays Janaki Vidhyadharan, a sexual assault survivor, while Suresh plays her counsel, David Abel Donovan.

Janaki V Vs State of Kerala, which was released in theatres on July 17, made headlines for several weeks ahead of its release. The film courted controversy after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) demanded that the makers change the title as well as the name of the titular character of Janaki, apparently because the name also refers to the Hindu goddess Sita.

Later, the revising committee of the CBFC also rejected certification for the film. The decision led to a political uproar in Kerala, with many film bodies organising protests against the censor board. Stating that films bearing similar names had been released earlier, the Kerala High Court sought an explanation from the CBFC and asked whether the changes suggested were a challenge to the freedom of creative expression.

The CBFC later cleared the release of the re-edited version of film, which was re-titled as Janaki V. v/s State of Kerala.

Also starring Divya Pillai, Sruthi Ramachandran, Askar Ali, Madhav Suresh Gopi, and Baiju Sandosh, the film has music scored by Gireesh Narayanan and background score by Ghibran. Renadive is the cinematographer, while Samjith Mohammed is the editor. J Phanindra Kumar produces the film under the Cosmos Entertainments banner.

The Hindu’s review of the film read, “For a courtroom drama, there is hardly any scene that makes an impact. As if to excite the audience lulled by the sluggish drama, there is an unnecessary jump scare sequence, which seems inspired from a B-grade horror movie. Songs further drag down the narrative. With its insensitive take on an important issue, Janaki V Vs State of Kerala becomes a film as pointless as the letter ‘V’, which was added to Janaki’s name to satisfy the whims of the censors.”