Legal whip on Manoj Bajpayee’s film Ghooskhor Pandit, Jabalpur court sent notice to Netflix and Neeraj Pandey

News India Live, Digital Desk: Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee and famous director Neeraj Pandey are once again in the headlines, but this time the reason is not an award but a serious legal dispute. After the anger of the Brahmin community over the title of the film ‘Ghooskhor Pandit’ and its dialogues, the JMFC (Judicial Magistrate First Class) court of Jabalpur has now taken a tough stance and issued a notice to the makers of the film and OTT platform Netflix, seeking answers. What is the ‘Ghooskhor Pandit’ controversy? (The Root Cause) This controversy started when Netflix announced ‘Ghooskhor Pandit’ in the list of its upcoming films. Objection to the title: Brahmin organizations say that adding ‘Ghooskhor’ with a respectable word like ‘Pandit’ is a deliberate conspiracy to tarnish the image of the entire community. Controversial dialogues: The teaser of the film and some dialogues leaked on social media allegedly contain derogatory remarks for the Brahmin community (such as – ‘Loose loincloth Pandit’) has been used, due to which there is huge anger in the society. Action of Jabalpur Court: While hearing the local complaint, the Jabalpur Court has prima facie considered it to be hurtful to religious and social sentiments. The matter reached the Supreme Court: “Change the title otherwise it will not be released.” Before the notice of the Jabalpur Court, this matter has also echoed in the Supreme Court. Justice B.V. Nagarathna’s bench had strongly reprimanded the film makers and said: Change in name is mandatory: The court made it clear that ‘freedom of expression’ cannot be taken advantage of by insulting any section. Promotional content removed: Seeing the growing controversy, Netflix has removed the teaser and all promotional materials of the film from social media. New title: Producer Neeraj Pandey has assured the court that he will change the name of the film, although the new name has not been officially announced yet. Neeraj Pandey and Manoj Bajpayee’s clarification: The film’s director Neeraj Pandey issued a statement saying that his story is fictional and its purpose is not to target any caste or community. Manoj Bajpayee also appealed for peace and said that the audience should reach a conclusion only after watching the entire film. Will the release of the film be stopped? Legal experts believe that until the makers do not change the title and do not use scissors on the controversial scenes/dialogues, the sword will remain hanging on the release of the film. Jabalpur Court has now given time to the concerned parties to present their views.