JSK – Janaki v/s State of Kerala row: High Court judge watches controversial movie at Kochi film studio

Kerala High Court judge N. Nagaresh arrived at a private film studio at Padamugal near Kakkanad in Kochi, Kerala, on Saturday (July 5, 2025) to watch the Malayalam film JSK – Janaki v/s State of Kerala starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi amidst the demand by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to change the movie title as well as the name of the titular character of Janaki, apparently because the name also refers to the Hindu goddess Sita.

The court, which is considering a petition by the film’s production company Cosmos Entertainments seeking a directive to the CBFC to issue the censor certificate, had stated on July 2 that it was appropriate to watch the movie before arriving at a decision. The production company had also requested the court to watch the film.

The court had earlier termed the CBFC’s revising committee seeking a change of the name ‘Janaki’ in the title and of the protagonist “a challenge to the freedom of creative expression.” Justifying the demand for the change of name, the board’s counsel had contended that the character Janaki in the film is sexually assaulted.

To this, the counsel for the petitioner argued that the character Janaki who is portrayed in the film is “a fighter for justice.” He said the CBFC had not cited any problem with ‘Janaki’ in the title earlier this year when its trailer was released. “The same board had also issued a censor certificate to a film by name ‘Janaki Jaane’,” he pointed out.

The court observed that “the character is a victim who is fighting for justice, and is not an accused. Moreover, In India, a good share of names are either of gods and goddesses or have similarities with their names,” it said.

The case has been posted for hearing on July 9.