New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) You cannot denigrate a section of society by using such a title, the Supreme Court remarked on Thursday while rapping filmmaker Neeraj Pandey on his film ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’.
The top court was hearing a plea seeking a stay on the release of the Manoj Bajpayee-starrer film on OTT platform Netflix.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notices to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Central Board for Film Certification and Pandey on a plea against the movie.
“Why should you denigrate a section of society by using such a title. This is against morality and public order. We will not allow you to release the film unless you tell us the changed title,” the bench said.
The top court directed Pandey to file an affidavit that the film ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ doesn’t denigrate any section of society.
The matter would be heard again on February 19.
The plea alleged that the movie promotes caste and religion-based stereotyping and threatens public order, communal harmony, and constitutional values.
‘Ghooskhor Pandat’, produced by filmmaker Neeraj Pandey, was announced by Netflix at an event in Mumbai recently.
The film stars Manoj Bajpayee, along with Nushrat Bharuchcha, Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi, and Divya Dutta.
The top court was hearing a PIL filed by Atul Mishra, National Organisation Secretary of the Brahman Samaj of India, seeking directions to stay the release of the movie scheduled to stream on Netflix.
The plea alleged that the movie title and storyline are prima facie offensive and derogatory, which portray the Brahmin community in a defamatory manner.
The PIL objected to the use of the word “Pandat”, a caste and religion-identifying title, alongside “Ghooskhor”, which denotes bribery and moral corruption. PTI
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