HC directs CBFC to hear producer before extending certificate’s suspension

The Bombay High Court has ordered the CBFC to hear 'Khalid Ka Shivaji' director Raj Pritam More before extending its suspension amid controversy.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) to hear out the director and producer of ‘Khalid Ka Shivaji’, Raj Pritam More, before extending the movie’s ‘suspended’ certificate. The controversy around the movie began when Maratha factions objected to the allegedly inaccurate claims made in the film.

HC directs CBFC to hear producer before extending certificate’s suspension

More, a two-time national award winner for his film ‘Khisa’, had approached the court after he

received a notice from the CBFC suspending his certificate for public exhibition on August 7, a day before the film was to be released. He told the court that the film recounted the story of an adolescent Muslim boy who is teased by his peers and discovers Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s secular nature.

A division-bench of justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela Gokhale refused to grant any interim orders but directed the CBFC to give More a personal hearing regarding the objections before extending the film’s suspension. The court’s response came after looking through petitions from the producer and the people objecting to the film’s release.

More said that the film had been selected for various international film festivals, such as the Cannes film festival. He added that the CBFC had initially given him a certification for the film in November 2024 and the board had not found any distortion of history at the time.

However, in early August, the film drew criticism from Maratha factions regarding the allegedly inaccurate claim that 35% of Shivaji Maharaj’s army and 11 of his bodyguards were Muslim. Nilesh Bhise, an independent researcher and playwright, had written to Ashish Shelar, state minister of cultural affairs on August 5, objecting to such claims and demanding that controversial statements in the film be deleted and the name of the film be changed. Ashish Shelar then wrote to the minister of information, electronics, and technology, on August 6, requesting him to direct the CBFC to suspend the film’s certificate in light of the objections raised.

A division-bench of justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela Gokhale refused to grant any interim orders but directed the CBFC to give More a personal hearing regarding the objections before extending the film’s suspension. The court’s response came after looking through petitions from the producer and the people objecting to the film’s release.