Central government clears Udaipur Files movie for release, rejects objections

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Wednesday rejected the revision petitions against Udaipur Files, a movie based on the murder of Rajasthan-based tailor Kanhaiya Lal.

The Central ministry in an order said that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had certified the movie after following the legal procedure and ordering as many as 55 cuts. It also noted that additional cuts have been made by the producers.

Further, the government said that those against the movie release failed to persuade it to go beyond what has already been done.

"Therefore, in consideration of the foregoing facts and findings, and in pursuance of the directions contained in the Order of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi dated 01.08.2025, the competent authority in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, acting in its capacity as the Revisional Authority under Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, holds that no case is made out for the exercise of powers under sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952. Accordingly, the revision petitions/representations are hereby dismissed," Under Secretary Santosh Kumar Maurya said in the order.

On August 1, the Delhi High Court had asked the Central government to re-examine the movie after Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma said that the ministry will withdraw the earlier order for cuts in the movie and take a fresh decision in accordance with the law.

The Court had earlier questioned Centre's power to order such cuts. Since the movie producers said they want to release the movie on August 8, the Court had directed the Centre to take appropriate decision by today.

The Court was hearing petitions challenging the movie release. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani and one of the accused in Kanhaiya Lal murder case approached the Court, stating that the movie vilifies Muslims and would affect the right to fair trial of the accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case.

Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor, was murdered by two assailants in June 2022 after he put up a WhatsApp status supporting BJP leader Nupur Sharma over certain controversial remarks she made on Prophet Muhammad. Udaipur Files was earlier scheduled for a July 11 release.

The High Court had earlier stayed the film's release and directed the Central government to exercise its revisional powers under Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act to re-examine the movie.

This prompted the film's producers to approach the Supreme Court in appeal. The top court did not interfere with the High Court decision, following which a committee set up by Central government went ahead with examining the movie. The panel recommended the release of the movie with certain changes.

The Central government then asked the movie producers to implement the same. This led to a fresh challenge before the High Court which questioned the Central government's power to order cuts in the movie in exercise of its revisional jurisdiction under Cinematograph Act and remanded the matter for a fresh decision.