John Abraham is surely making news this year, and not always in a good way. His forthcoming film Satyameva Jayate which is scheduled for an August 15 release is in trouble. The BJP minority Front General Secretary Syed Ali Jafri has filed an FIR against the film for hurting religious sentiments. The FIR filed from Hyderabad alleges that the Holy festival of Muharram has been projected in a bad light in the trailer of the film.
While the film’s director Milap Zaveri refrained from comment a senior member of the Central Board Of Film Certification says, “Let the film come to us. We will get an expert panel to view it. If the panel feels the reference to Muharram is actually offensive then we will immediately remove it. The CBFC is very clear on religious matters. No community must be offended in the name of freedom of expression.”
Former chief of the CBFC Pahlaj Nihalani opines that shots which are likely to hurt religious sentiments are removed without debate or dispute. “We were instructed by the I & B ministry to remove anything that could hurt religious sentiments. No one wants to take a risk. I am sure even the makers of Satyameva Jayate would rather remove anything controversial than risk protests.”
