Children’s Film Society seeks Bombay HC intervention to release film

In January, the board issued a universal/adult (U/A) certificate to the film, owing to an abusive word and a particular scene

The Children’s Film Society (CFS), India, has approached the Bombay high court (HC), seeking directions to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) tribunal to hear its plea to issue a universal certificate to its film Chidiakhana.

The bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and GS Patel has instructed CBFC and the ministry of Information and Broadcasting to file a reply within two weeks. (HT File)

In January, the board issued a universal/adult (U/A) certificate to the film, owing to an abusive word and a particular scene. The Society has claimed that the film is meant for children and is to be screened in schools. It said it is willing to remove the two objections. The bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and GS Patel has instructed CBFC and the ministry of Information and Broadcasting to file a reply within two weeks.

Advocate Yashodeep Deshmukh, representing the society, told the bench that CFS had approached the CBFC tribunal after 105 days of receiving the U/A certificate. However, the tribunal refused to oblige, stating that the society had exceeded the period of appeal. The delay was caused by the lack of proper authorities in CFS and inexperience of the staff, Deshmukh said.

The film tells the story of a teenage boy from Bihar who moves to Mumbai to pursue his dream of playing football.