The petitioners in Tamil Nadu claim that the State authorities influenced the exhibitors, resulting in the withdrawal of the film. The movie has faced controversy as it is accused of portraying the entire Muslim community and the state of Kerala in a negative light while depicting the recruitment of women into ISIS through deceit.
A division bench consisting of N Nagaresh and Sophy Thomas heard multiple writ petitions seeking an order to prohibit the film’s exhibition. The movie was released in Kerala on Friday amidst protests from various organizations. On May 4, 2023, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a request to direct the Kerala High Court to hear a petition challenging the clearance given by the CBFC to the film.
Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj, representing the petitioner, argued that the movie not only contains hate speeches but is also available to people who consider them as true incidents. Senior advocate S. Sreekumar, representing the defendant, countered that the movie was approved and certified by the censor board before its release on social media. The petitioner claimed that the movie is based on incidents that occurred in Kerala, where Hindu and Christian women were allegedly lured into “love jihad,” converted by Islamic groups, and trafficked for missions in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
On May 5, a division bench of the Kerala High Court, comprising Justice N. Nagaresh and Justice Sophy Thomas, rejected the request to halt the film’s exhibition. The court noted that the film only stated it was “inspired by true events” and had received certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for public viewing.
After watching the film’s trailer, the bench expressed the opinion that it did not contain anything offensive towards any particular community. The bench also pointed out that none of the petitioners had actually watched the film, and the producers had included a disclaimer stating that the events in the movie were fictionalized. However, the High Court acknowledged the producer’s submission that the teaser claiming over 32,000 women from Kerala were recruited to ISIS would be removed from their social media accounts.
In a related development, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a special leave petition on May 15, challenging the Kerala High Court’s decision to not halt the film’s exhibition.
