FIR filed against filmmaker for screening uncensored film at multiplex

24 Apr 2017

FilmmakerRahatKazmiwho has made Mantostaan , an omnibus of 4 Partition stories by Urdu litterateur Sadat HassanManto, has landed himself in a legal soup. The film was apparently screened on Thursday evening at a theatre in the suburbs ofMumbai owned by a nationwide multiplex without a censor certificate. And now theCensor Board of Film Certificationis all set to lodge an FIR against the offending parties. Confirming the developmentCFBCchairpersonPahlajNihalanisays, Weve received information that filmmakerRahatKazmiheld a screening on Thursday April 20 of his new film Mantostaan without a censor certificate. This is completely illegal and a shocking example of how creative people flaunt rules to taunt the government. Nihalanisays Mantostaan is pending censor certification. Kazmi has submitted the film for censor certification. But we havent issued a certification. How can he screen a film without a censor certification? You cant even screen a 10-second without a censor certificate, let alone a full-length feature film. The onus of publicly broadcasting an uncensored film lies with the digital content provider. Says Nihalani, We are lodging an FIR againstKazmi, and Real Image the digital content provider who provided the content for the screening to the theatre knowing fully well that the film had not received a censor certificate, and also the multiple chain where the screening was held.