CHENNAI: In an unusual step, the Madras High Court will directly review the Tamil film 'Manushi' following a bitter standoff between its makers and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, hearing a petition filed by the film's producer C. Vetri Maaran, on Tuesday ordered a private screening of the film on August 24 in Chennai to determine whether the censor board was justified in demanding 37 cuts.
The film, produced by Vetri Maaran's Grassroot Film Company and directed by Gopi Nainar, known for his earlier work 'Aramm', stars Andrea Jeremiah in the lead role.
It depicts the custodial torture of a woman suspected of being a terrorist, a subject that has already drawn attention since the release of its trailer by actor Vijay Sethupathi in April 2024.
Trouble began in September 2024 when both the examining and reviewing committees of the CBFC refused to grant a censor certificate.
They objected to the film because it portrayed the State in a "negative light" and claimed it blurred the lines between "leftist communism" and "mainstream communism".
The rejection was challenged by Vetri Maaran in June this year, when he filed a writ petition alleging that the CBFC had acted without transparency by neither providing him an opportunity to defend the film nor spelling out specific objections.
He further requested the constitution of an expert panel, including human rights activists, to re-examine the film.
The High Court, while hearing that earlier petition, recorded the CBFC's submission that it had reviewed the film again and listed objectionable sequences.