HAAL movie producer moves Kerala High Court against CBFC direction to cut scenes with beef biriyani, burqa

The Kerala High Court will hear on October 17 the petition filed by the makers of the Malayalam movie Haal against the Censor Board's proposal to give the film an A (Adults only) certification and ordering several cuts in the film, including a scene featuring beef biriyani [Juby Thomas & anr v Union of India & ors].

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) suggested six modifications to ‘Haal’, including blurring an institution’s name, deleting a scene showing beef biriyani being eaten, and removing a song sequence where an actress appears in Muslim religious attire.

The matter was briefly heard on Tuesday by Justice VG Arun, when the petitioners' counsel told the Court that the film concerns an interfaith love story, with emphasis being given on the importance of respecting each person's religious identity.

The counsel gave a general plot outline of the film and questioned why the CBFC is opposing a dance by the lead actress in Muslim attire, when such dances are common in even cultural festivals.

"The issue is simple - Muslim boy and a Christian girl fall in love, both the families oppose, but father of the boy says if she converts, she can come into the house. Boy says no, I won’t permit, and the girl hearing this says, I will convert. But while the conversion ceremony is going in, she withdraws and the police come in, no pressure is exerted on her. She says it in court also. But eventually, the theme of the movie is both sides reconcile and say, why are we fighting? Let them live together following their respective religions. For that, an A certificate is given. One of the cuts is a Muslim dance where the girl is wearing a burqa. My lord, in the youth festival, we have this. These are the things coming up. I have spent money on this," the counsel argued.

Justice Arun, in turn, noted that the filmmakers have spent a substantial amount on the film's production and that it was initially slated for release on Friday.

The Central government sought time to file a counter, whereas the filmmakers urged the Court to view the movie as soon as possible so that it can take a call on whether the CBFC's concerns about the film are valid. There has already been a lot of delay in clearing the film for release, the petitioners' counsel said.

The Court agreed to hear it urgently, and proceeded to list the case next for a detailed hearing on October 17.

The plea before the Court was moved by the film's producer, Juby Thomas and its director, Veera @ Muhammed Rafeeq.

They had completed the production of the movie 'HAAL' in early September 2025 and the film was slated to be released on Onam.

The petitioners submitted an application for a censor certificate on September 8, and attended a screening of the movie before the CBFC on September 10.

However, they alleged that their application was later forwarded to the Revising Committee without giving any written reasons or communication to them, causing an inordinate delay in certification.

Aggrieved, the petitioners moved a petition, seeking urgent consideration of their application.

Meanwhile, the CBFC issued a communication in which it suggested six modifications to the movie after which the film would be granted an 'A' certificate.

These modifications included removing a scene showing the consumption of beef biriyani, deleting a song sequence where the heroine appears in Muslim religious attire to hide her identity, and blurring the name of Holy Angels College of Nursing, among other changes.

These suggested changes, as well as the proposal to certify the film as 'Adults only', have been challenged before the High Court as illegal, arbitrary and violative of the fundamental right to free speech and expression.

In the last hearing of the matter on October 10, Justice N Nagresh was told that although the petitioners wished to file an appeal under Section 5C of the Indian Cinematograph Act, 1952, the Registry indicated there was no procedure or nomenclature for moving such an appeal.

The Court had directed the Registrar General to submit a report on this issue.

Today, the Court decided to treat the case as a writ petition after it was noted that there appeared to be no procedure in place to treat the plea as an appeal under the Cinematograph Act.

Advocates Saneeje S and John Vithayathil appeared for the petitioners.

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