THE TIMES OF INDIA (November 22, 2017)

The Kerala high court on Tuesday ordered that Malayalam film ‘S Durga’, earlier called ‘Sexy Durga’, be allowed to be screened at the ongoing 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

A HC issued the order to the I&B ministry on a petition filed by the film’s director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan challenging its exclusion from IFFI, which began on November 20. The ministry had told the HC that ‘S Durga’ did not have censor board clearance and there were complaints that it offended religious sentiments as ‘Durga’ is the name of a goddess. The IFFI jury had shortlisted it without CBFC certification, it argued.

No one can object to ‘S Durga’, says HC
'Sexy Durga’ was the first Indian movie to win the Tiger Award for budding filmmakers at Rotterdam. The Kerala HC said the film had got CBFC certification on October 10 by changing the title to ‘S Durga’. A certified version of the movie should be allowed to be screened as no objection had been raised regarding the certification, it held.

Lead actor of ‘S Durga’ S Kannan said the “court has stood with the right side” and the festival organizers should also screen ‘Nude’. Festival director Sunit Tandon declined to comment on the status of the film’s inclusion, saying, “I am not appropriately placed to talk.”

"The court is the only hope for people like us. They (makers of ‘Nude’) didn’t go to court. They made that mistake. But the film should also be screened here. Because the jury had unanimously selected both movies,” Kannan told TOI.

The ministry had also contended that the petitioner could not challenge the rejection in the Kerala HC as the festival was being conducted in Goa and the ministry’s decision was taken in New Delhi. But, the court ruled in favour of the petitioner’s argument that the certification was made at CBFC’s regional office in Thiruvananthapuram.

Director Sasidharan told PTI, “I am very happy. It’s a victory of cinema and democracy. People stood by us. The chairman resigned, other jury members also resigned”
--------------------------------
Mihir Bhanage and Dean Lobo (BOMBAY TIMES; November 22, 2017)

On Tuesday afternoon, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan tweeted about his film S Durga being screened at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI)’s 48th edition. After his film was rejected from being screened in the Indian Panorama section, Sasidharan had informed us about petitioning in the Kerala High Court against it.

A week after the petition, Sasidharan and his team are celebrating a win. The Kerala HC, hearing the petition, has directed the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) to screen the film at the festival. When contacted, an elated Sasidharan, who is currently in Australia, said, “I would call it a win for cinema and all those championing the cause of artistic freedom. A lot of people have put in their hard work and time for the film and the court’s directive reinstates our belief in democracy and the judiciary.”

Justice K Vinod Chandran, the judge who heard the matter, overruled the objections raised by the ministry and asked for the film to be screened with CBFC certificate. Over the last few days, plenty has been written and spoken about S Durga and the Marathi film Nude’s exclusion from the list finalised by the 13-member jury for the Indian Panorama section. As a mark of protest, director Sujoy Ghosh, the head of the jury and co-juror, writer-editor Apurva Asrani even stepped down from their respective positions.

Sasidharan adds, “My lawyer told me about the decision. I am not sure when the film will be screened. Also, I won’t be able to attend the festival as I am not in the country.”

Confirming the same, filmmaker Satarupa Sanyal, an IFFI jury member, said, “There’s no news about the screening at the festival yet. Programmes are going on at the venue as per schedule. However, now that the screening has been ordered by the Kerala HC, arrangements will have to be made. S Durga and Nude were dropped without any explanation. So the court’s decision is a welcome one.”

When BT spoke to Apurva Asrani, he said, “As someone who loves good cinema, it was heart-breaking to learn that Nude and S Durga had been dropped from the final list of the Indian Panorama. I just silently stepped aside as a jury member because the final list didn’t reflect what we signed off on. There was never any intention to get political about it or to point fingers, so I can’t say where and why it got dropped. I congratulate Sanal for believing in his film and for believing enough in IFFI as a festival to fight to get S Durga screened.”
--------------------------------
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 22, 2017)

Ten days after the Information & Broadcasting Ministry dropped Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's Malayalam thriller, S Durga, from the final list of films to be screened at International Film Festivals of India's (IFFI) Indian Panorama section, a single judge bench of the Kerala High Court has directed the organisers to exhibit the film at the festival. Justice K Vinod Chandran, who considered the matter, overruled the objections raised by the I & B Ministry which had contended that, among others, the original title of the film, Sexy Durga, offended religious sentiments. Sasidharan, the film's director, wrote on his Facebook page yesterday that the court's decision was a victory for cinema. "...This is the victory of our democracy. This is the victory of those people from the jury who sacrificed. Cheers India! (sic)," his post said.

Mirror was the first to report about the I & B Ministry's decision, which overrode the choices of the 13-member jury of the Indian Panorama section. Apart from S Durga, Ravi Jadhav's Marathi film, Nude, also faced the axe. This led to the resignation of jury chairman, filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, and two other members, National Award-winning editor Apurva Asrani and writer-director Gyan Correa. Asrani told Mirror he was happy for the film's director and happier for Indian cinema "in general".

"Films like S Durga that make a strong case for women's safety, while also using ingenious storytelling methods, are hard to come by. I was gutted when it slipped through our fingers and resigned because I felt we had failed these films. But Sanal's persistence paid off and I'm thrilled that delegates of India's most prestigious film festival will get a chance to see this film. I strongly believe if our respected I & B Minister (Smriti Irani), who is an empowered woman herself, watches the film, she will go all out to support it." Sasidharan moved the Kerala High Court against the decision on November 14, and when his case did not come up for hearing by the single bench on November 16, he filed a writ petition with the Division Bench of the Kerala HC.

After referring to the statements filed by the Central Government Counsel and the petitioner, the Division Bench made two key observations. First, the I&B Ministry had behaved in a high-handed manner, and two, Sasidharan should have been given an opportunity to screen the censored version of S Durga for the jury and the Ministry. It suggested that the single bench list the petition and give Sasidharan a hearing by November 20 — the opening day of IFFI this year. The case finally came up for hearing yesterday. "It's a moral victory for the film," said Sasidharan's advocate Manu Sebastian.

IFFI officials told Mirror they had not received any official intimation about the court's decision. "I came to know about the issue via media," said Vani Tripathi Tikoo, a member of IFFI's steering committee. Sunit Tandon, festival director, IFFI, said, "I have nothing to say for now. I, too, got to know about it only a while ago from news reports." Six of the Panorama section's jury members — Hari Vishwanathan, Satarupa Sanyal, Ruchi Narain, Gopi Desai, Suresh Heblikar and Sachin Chatte — had written to Smriti Irani to voice their concern with regard to the exclusion of the two films without any intimation, discussion or recourse to the jury, which has a final say, as per Indian Panorama regulations. Pointing out that their written correspondence to the Directorate of Film Festivals and the National Film Development Corporation of India went unheeded, the members urged the minister to give the films under dispute a fair chance to be viewed. IFFI ends on November 28.
--------------------------------
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; November 22, 2017)

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s battle came to a fitting end yesterday. The Kerala High Court yesterday directed the Information & Broadcasting Ministry and the International Film Festival of India ( IFFI) to screen his Malayalam film, S Durga, which was dropped from the film festival’s line- up of movies despite being selected by the Indian Panorama jury. In his judgment, Justice K Vinod Chandran deemed that the CBFC certified version of the film was entitled to be screened.

Overjoyed by the ruling, Sasidharan, who is currently attending Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane for the same film, told mid-day, “I am not the one to usually celebrate victories. But I can’t stay away from being ecstatic about this one. This is the victory of cinema and of our democracy.”

S Durga was one of the two films that were unceremoniously dropped from the line-up on November 11, days before the film festival was to kick off. Sujoy Ghosh had stepped down as the jury chief as a mark of protest.

Grateful that many had voiced their protest against IFFI’s dictatorial ways, Sasidharan added, “This is the victory of those people from the jury who sacrificed for the film. This is a message that champions freedom of speech.”

He doesn’t deny that freedom of expression is finding itself increasingly under threat, citing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati as the latest example where artistic expression is being choked. “But this ruling reinstates my faith in the judiciary.”