Hyderabad, December 02: The Andhra Pradesh High Court today dismissed a petition challenging the release of Vidya Balan starrer “Dirty Picture” tomorrow. Justice Vilas Afzulpurkar upheld the contention of the respondent Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) that the certificate to the movie was granted as per the provisions of Cinematographic Act, 1952, as well as related notification of the Central government, CBFC counsel B Mayur Reddy said.
The judge had earlier reserved his order after hearing the petitioner and respondents. Petitioner Vadlapatla Vara Prasada Rao, brother of Silk Smitha, the Telugu actress who committed suicide a few years ago, had contended that the film was made based on the life of his sister and filmmakers never obtained permission from her family. He sought staying of the grant of CBFC certificate as the film was “defamatory, obscene and vulgar”.
The court in its orders noted that if the petitioner felt that if there is anything defamatory in the movie with regard to depiction of his sister’s (life) in a bad light he could file a suit for defamation. In his arguments, Reddy had submitted that the film is a “fictional account and does not represent any individual as such”. “The film is all about one actress called Reshma and her struggles in Bollywood.
She succeeds initially but later fails and commits suicide.”
The judge also agreed to the contention of S Niranjan Reddy, appearing for Balaji Telefilms that the film “does not refer to any individual and it is not a autobiography of any person. The producers also stated about this in the disclaimer at the beginning of the film”. Later Rao said he may approach the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission over the issue. “My effort has been to protect the prestige of my sister. More so, she is dead. Had they consulted us, we would have given correct details of her life,” he told PTI. Directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Ekta Kapoor, the movie also stars Emraan Hashmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor.
——PTI