U/A for film on Ayodhya dispute

A film based on the background of the Ayodhya dispute has been cleared for a U/A certification with parental caution and a disclaimer that will run for at least 90 seconds and also be read out.

The film, Game of Ayodhya, was earlier denied certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

However, the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) overruled the CBFC’s concerns it could stoke communalism as the film deals with the issue in a provocative manner ‘that could could lead to trouble’.

In its order, the FCAT — where filmmakers can appeal against the orders of the CBFC — said the movie was projected as the fictional love story of a journalist who wants to “repent mistakes” made by him about wrong reporting in the backdrop of the Ayodhya incident.

It further said the tribunal did not find “anything objectionable” in the manner in which incidents such as the Rath Yatra were depicted in the movie.

“There are no gory scenes of violence… our attention has not been drawn to any particular scene,” the order said.

Earlier, former Central Board of Film Certification chief Pahlaj Nihaliani had refused certification on the grounds that the film may lead to defamation and affect communal harmony in the country.