Kolkata: A Bengali film directed by a state government official and featuring two actors who had contested the Bengal assembly elections on BJP tickets has run into trouble with the censor board over the use of the words “Sitey” and “Honu” to denote Sita and Hanuman in a brief enactment of an episode from Ramayan.

At a hearing on Monday, the regional office of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asked the director of Aasharey Goppo to make four modifications, including muting two words that a member of the advisory panel said were uttered in “derogatory” context. The CBFC cited guideline 2 (XII) that requires the panel to “ensure that visuals or words contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups are not presented”.

“When we watched this scene, we found it extremely disrespectful towards the Hindu goddess Sita and Lord Hanuman. As responsible advisory board members, we have acted keeping in mind the Cinematograph Act,” panel member Partha Sarathi Chowdhury said.

The recommended cuts led director Arindam Chakraborty to term the CBFC’s intervention “farcicial”. Actor Rudranil Ghosh, who had unsuccessfully contested the Bhowanipore assembly seat as a BJP candidate against Trinamool’s Sovandeb Chatterjee last year, said “those at the CBFC always impose their personal thoughts” while certifying a film.

Rudranil’s co-actor Payel Sarkar, too, was a losing BJP candidate in the polls last year. Aasharey Goppo is a comedy that revolves around a filmmaker, played by Abir Chatterjee, who wants to make good cinema but is forced by producers to churn out formulaic fare.

“I pleaded with them to allow the word Hanuman instead of ‘Honu’. I asked them if my dialogue was distorting the Ramayan. I was told I can’t keep the word,” director Chakraborty said.

National Award-winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherji, who is all set to make his Bollywood debut with Begum Jaan, an adaptation of his Bengali period drama, Rajkahini, featuring Vidya Balan, finds himself in a legal soup. Srijit hosts a Bengali talk show, 'Shonge Srijit', and on an episode which aired on December 21, 2015, had Parambrata Chatterjee and Rudranil Ghosh as his guests. The two actors, who have dated Rituparna Chowdhry, now the creative producer of a leading production house, allegedly made some inappropriate comments about her. Upset, Rituparna has now filed a private complaint in a Magistrate Court in Kolkata against the guests, Srijit, the show's producer, Jisshu Sengupta, Colors Bangla, Viacom18 and its CEO, Sudhanshu Vats, alleging defamation and making sexually coloured remarks.

“Rudranil used a metaphor, likening me to a playground on which he played in the morning while Parambrata played in the evening. I'm really hurt by these derogatory statements. I know they are influential people but I will fight it out, any self-respecting girl would,“ says Rituparna.

She doesn't deny being in a relationship with the youth icons and admits that Srijit too has been a dear friend for years. “But this incident shows them up as the kind of human beings they have become,“ she says bitterly.

Her lawyer, L Vishal Kumar, filed the case on Friday at the Chief Judicial Magistrate Alipore in Kolkata. When asked why it had taken her so long to take action, she points out that she had to first convince her middle-class parents. “Also, I had to find a suitable lawyer who could understand and represent me well,“ she informs.

The complaint further alleges that Srijit brought up the topic of her relationship and referred to her through a mannequin on the show. When contacted, the filmmaker admits that he has heard of the case but refuses to comment on it saying the matter is subjudiced. “The court will decide whether what Rudranil and Parambrata said about her is defamatory or not. However, given that I knew them to be good friends, it is unfortunate that Rituparna found the comments to be offensive,“ says Srijit, adding that he had called her before the show seeking her consent.

Rituparna however insists that the nature of the content discussed on the show was never mentioned. On the subject of the mannequin, Srijit points out that it is the format of the show whereby the person being discussed on the show is represented by a mannequin. “That is all Srijit that I did, bring her up Mukherji on the show,“ says the filmmaker in his defence.