Suresh Gopi's Janaki Vs State Of Kerala Row: Kerala HC Questions CBFC Over Objection In Title

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) refused censor certificate to Malayalam film JSK - Janaki vs State of Kerala, due to "objection" over the name 'Janaki' in the film's title. The Kerala High Court, in a hearing, on Friday, June 27, questioned the censor board over its objection.

The Pravin Narayanan-directorial, starring Union Minister and BJP leader Suresh Gopi and actor Anupama Parameswaran, was scheduled for theatrical release on June 27.

Kerala High Court questions CBFC over Janaki vs State of Kerala row

As per a report in Live Law, during the hearing, Justice N. Nagaresh asked Deputy Solicitor General of India (DSGI), who appeared for CBFC, "We have cinemas issued in the name 'Seeta Aur Geeta'. Janaki is Seeta. Nothing happened. No problem. Nobody has any complaint. We have film named 'Ram Lakhan'. Nobody has any complaint. Then how come for Janaki there is a complaint?"

Citing the reason behind the decision, the DSGI referred to the Guidelines issued by the Central Government pursuant to Section 5B(2) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952. The Guidelines have the details on what basis the CBFC grants, restrict or denies certification to a film for public exhibition.

The DSGI also told the Court that the film has 'mature content' which includes 'sexual violence against women and uses sexual language and words denoting women', and that's why they want the name 'Janaki' to be removed.

The Court told the production to either reply to the show cause notice or to prefer an appeal against it.

The CBFC recently issued a show cause notice to the filmmakers of JSK, demanding to drop the name 'Janaki' from the film’s title and dialogues.

About the petition

Cosmos Entertainment, the production house behind JSK: Janaki v/s State of Kerala, filed a petition in Kerala High Court, against the delay in certification. The petition mentioned that the film was submitted for certification on June 12, 2025, and the CBFC hasn’t raised any 'formal objection', till they found out about it through news reports.

As per the petition, the continued delay in the release is causing the makers financial loss and violating their rights under Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), B Unnikrishnan, announced that the Malayalam film fraternity will protest before the CBFC office on Monday, June 30.