Kerala High Court Closes Plea As CBFC Certifies Suresh Gopi Film After Edits; No Legal Action On Use Of Old Title In Earlier Teasers

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (July 16) closed the writ petition filed by producers of the Suresh Gopi starrer 'JSK - Janaki v State of Kerala', observing that a U/A Certificate was granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on July 11.The legal tussle between the production and the CBFC was over the name of the protagonist 'Janaki', who is a rape survivor, since the name holds religious significance for the Hindu community.CBFC had suggested to change the sub-title of the film to 'Janaki V', to which the production eventually agreed.In this backdrop Justice N. Nagaresh observed, "It is submitted that the petitioner has submitted modified version of the film and Central Board of Film Certification has issued certificate on 11/07/2025. The prime grievance of the petitioner now stands redressed."The Court orally observed that it is also giving a protective observation to prevent the audience from approaching the consumer court against the production, claiming it had promised to show 'Janaki v. State of Kerala' but it came out now with 'Janaki V v. State of Kerala'. Therefore, it further observed,"The counsel for the petitioner submitted that releasing of the teaser of the movie and advertisement material with the earlier name of the movie can give rise to certain legal complications. It is made clear that in view of the peculiar circumstances in which the revised version of the movie is now being granted censor certificate, it is declared the using of the materials/teaser with the old name by the petitioner shall not in any manner legally, adversely affect the petitioner and no claim in that regard will be maintainable against the petitioner."The movie is set to release in theaters tomorrow (July 17).Earlier, the CBFC had informed the Court that it was willing to certify the film, which was set to hit the theatres on June 27, if the producers change the name 'Janaki' in the sub-title and mute the name in only two scenes, as opposed to the 96 cuts suggested earlier. The production house agreed to change the name to 'Janaki V.' or 'V. Janaki'. It also agreed to mute the name from two scenes, where the rape survivor named after the Hindu goddess Janaki (another name for Sita), is being "aggressively" cross-examined by a lawyer from another religious community. More on this here.During the last hearing CBFC counsel Abhinav Chandrachud had submitted that the Board will endeavour to issue the certification within 3 days after the edited version of the movie is submitted to it. The matter was thereafter posted today for compliance.Case Title: M/s Cosmos Entertainments v. The Regional Officer, CBFC and OthersCase No: WP(C) No. 23326 of 2025 and WP(C) No. 24256 of 2025Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 423Counsels for the petitioner: Anand B. Menon, Haris Beeran, Azhar Assees, Nabil KhaderCounsels for the respondent: Abhinav Chandrachud - Counsel for CBFC, O.M. Shalina, Deputy Solicitor General of India Click to read/download judgment

Kerala High Court Closes Plea As CBFC Certifies Suresh Gopi Film After Edits; No Legal Action On Use Of Old Title In Earlier Teasers

K. Salma Jennath

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