MADRAS HIGH COURT DISMISSES PIL SEEKING WARNING AGAINST VIOLENCE SHOWN IN MOVIES
The Madras High Court on November 8, dismissed a public interest litigation petition filed by an advocate S. Dinesh Jacob Durairaj, which sought a direction to film-makers to carry a warning, akin to one carried against smoking and consuming liquor, before playing every movie, requesting youngsters not to be carried away by the violence shown in the movies and declaring that only dummy arms and fake blood are used by actors.
Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and N. Seshasayee refused to entertain the case on the ground that the petitioner could not make the court assume the role of the Central Board of Film Certification under the garb of a PIL petition.
The judges agreed with Additional Government Pleader E. Manohar that there were well-laid-down guidelines for issuance of certificates to movies and that a panel consisting of many CBFC members watched every scene before certifying whether adults alone could watch a movie or whether children should be accompanied by adults to watch a particular movie.
Though the petitioner specifically referred to violent scenes in Vijay starrer Bigil and claimed that they have a bad influence on the youth, the judges said, that movie too had been subjected to censor and then issued with a U/A (under adult guidance) certificate.
KAMAL KANT CHANDRA MOVES BOMBAY HIGH COURT AGAINST AYUSHMAAN KHURANA AND PRODUCERS OF ‘BALA’, FAILS TO OBTAIN ANY AD-INTERIM RELIEF DUE TO NON-JOINDER OF RELIANCE AS A PARTY
A lot of drama seems to have unfolded prior to release of the film ‘Bala’. After the makers got out of the Ujda Chaman litigation, another litigant, Kamal Kant Chandra moved the Bombay High Court seeking stay on the release claiming that the makers of Bala had plagiarized his story. Though the suit was filed a couple of months back, the Plaintiff seems to have failed on technicalities in not making Reliance/ Jio Studios a party and withdrawing the application for the same in October, when they had the chance to do so.
Further, while the matter was being heard, one Mr. Sejal Taliyan @ Vikas Taliyan has appeared before the Court and sought to intervene in the matter on the ground that the first comedy film named ‘Hair is Falling’ was released on 7th August, 2011, which film was based on the story written by him. He has also handed over a DVD of his film which he stated was released throughout India including Mumbai in the year 2011. He stated that the Plaintiff has in fact copied his story. He also stated that the story was further improved and titled ‘Darta Hai Kuon’ and at the muhurat of the said film, the Plaintiff himself was present. He also produced a photograph of the Plaintiff showing that the Plaintiff was present at the muhurat. Mr. Taliyan also alleged that the Defendants have by using his story made the film “Bala” and have thereby infringed his copyright.
The Bombay High Court however declined to grant any ad-interim reliefs since the party which would be most affected by the stay i.e. the distributors, Reliance / Jio Studios were not made party to the suit. Read order here.
Meanwhile, another court in Jaipur issued notice to makers of ‘Bala’ after G D Bansal, representing Naman Goyal who made The Beginning To Get Bald, said several scenes have been copied in violation in the film Bala.
I&B MINISTRY TO MEET AGAIN IN CHENNAI TO DEBATE OTT CONTENT REGULATION
The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry will hold a second round of consultation on the issue of regulating online video content in Chennai next week
The first round of consultations happened in Mumbai in October.
AFGHAN EMBASSY RAISES CONCERN OVER THE PORTRAYAL OF AHMAD SHAH ABDALI IN ASHUTOSH GOWARIKAR’S UPCOMING FIM ‘PANIPAT’
Fearing misrepresentation of former Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s upcoming Bollywood period drama Panipat, the Embassy of Afghanistan has expressed concerns to New Delhi and sought a meeting with Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar over the issue.
“Since the film is related to former Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali, any insensitive/ distorted depiction of his character might provoke emotions of Afghans which could be unfairly exploited by others to adversely affect the trust and harmony that exists so well among the people of two countries,” part of the letter reportedly read.
Starring actors Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Kapoor, Panipat is based on the Third Battle of Panipat between the Maratha Empire and the Durrani Empire in 1761 — one of the most significant events in Indian history.
The film’s trailer was released on November 6, sparking concerns amid Afghan people about the misrepresentation of Abdali (played by Dutt), the founder of the modern Afghanistan, as a brutal ruler. Panipat is slated to release on 6 December.
PLAGIARISM CASE FILED IN BOMBAY HIGH COURT AGAINST SHWETA TIWARI’S NEW SHOW ‘MERE DAD KI DULHAN’
Punjabi film producer Preeti Sapru has filed a copyright infringement suit in the Bombay High Court against Shweta Tiwari’s upcoming show ‘Mere Dad Ki Dulhan’. Preeti Sapru has claimed that her upcoming Punjabi film, Teri Meri Gal Ban Gayi has a similar concept. For the uninitiated, Shweta and Varun Badola’s show revolves around a father-daughter relationship and how the daughter gets her father remarried. Preeti has claimed that her film too has the same concept.
NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN’S RECORD LABEL SAYS ‘KINNA SONA’ IN ‘MARJAVAAN’ IS A COPY, T-SERIES DENIES CLAIM
As per reports, UK-based music label Oriental Star Agencies, which manages the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s work, claimed yhatT-Series has used the legendary singer’s 1991 number “Kinna Sona” in “Marjaavaan” without proper rights.
The company said it had signed Khan, who popularised Sufi qawwali across the globe and spawned many an imitation, as an OSA artiste right at the beginning of his career in the 1980s.
T-Series has however denied the claims.
MIB SEEKS FEEDBACK ON PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO CABLE TELEVISION NETWORK RULES 1994
The ministry of information and broadcasting has sought feedback/comments from general public stakeholders on amendments in the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994.
The ministry proposes to amend Rule 6 of the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, by having two sub-clauses of Sub-Rule (2). While sub-clause (a) is part of the existing Sub-Rule (2), sub-clause (b) is considered for insertion.
The sub-clause (a) of Sub-Rule states that programmes should project women in a positive, leadership role of sobriety, moral and character-building qualities. The sub-clause (b) which is being inserted states that the programme should display the casting/credits/titles of Hindi/Regional languages TV serials in the respective languages also.
The ministry stated that it has received representations on the issue of display of casting/credits/titles of Hindi serials telecast on TV containing the names of artists, singers, lyricists, musicians, directors, producers, etc. in the Hindi language/Regional languages also.
An advisory dated 14th June 2019 was also issued to private satellite TV channels thereby advising them to consider displaying the casting/credits/titles of Hindi/Regional languages TV serials in the respective languages also.
The feedback/comments from general public stakeholders on the proposed amendment in the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 have to be given by email at s.khattar@nic.in in the next thirty days.
As per the existing regulatory framework, all programmes and advertisements telecast on private satellite TV channels and transmitted/re-transmitted through the Cable TV network are required to adhere to the Programme Code and Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 framed thereunder.
JAYALALITHAA BIOPIC ROW: MADRAS HC SENDS NOTICES TO DIRECTORS AL VIJAY, GAUTHAM MENON
The Madras High Court on November 5, while hearing a case filed by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s niece J Deepa, has called for responses to be filed by the respondents – directors AL Vijay and Gautham Vasudev Menon.
Deepa had filed a civil suit with the Madras HC to restrain director AL Vijay and producer Vishnu Vardhan Induri from making a biopic, and director Gautham Vasudev Menon from making a web series, both based on Jayalalitha’s life.
Read details of the matter here.
VIPUL K RAWAL RECEIVES FLAK FOR HURTING CATHOLIC SENTIMENTS IN THE POSTER OF HIS DIRECTORIAL DEBUT ‘TONY’
Vipul K Rawal, known for writing the script of the Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Rustom’, was served a legal notice for allegedly hurting Catholic sentiments in his directorial debut, ‘Tony’. The film’s poster shows a chopped hand nailed to the Holy Cross, which is sacred to the Christians. Rawal, however, has refused to change the poster saying that his film is based on a catholic serial killer and the poster is appropriate for the concept. The film is about a group of college students who plant a camera in a church confession box and happen to record the confession of a serial killer which changes their lives.
