HC notice to Centre, CBFC over biopic on Kamala Das
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala high court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and director of the biopic on controversial writer Kamala Das and sought their replies on charges raised in the petition seeking a ban on the Malayalam film for “supporting and justifying love jihad”.
KP Ramachandran said in his plea filed on Monday that the film, directed by Kamal and starring Manju Warrier, glorifies conversion and related incidents and omits some of the “painful incidents in her real life”.
“Such films are getting released at a time when there is a hot debate on ‘love jihad’ and central agencies are probing it,” he said.
Born Kamala Madhavikutty in 1934, Das converted to Islam at the age of 65 at the behest of a 38-year-old Muslim man and became Kamala Suraiyya. The move created a furore in both the communities.
Ramachandran also claimed that Das was one of the first victims of the so-called “love jihad”.
“She was allegedly enticed to the religion by a young leader feigning love. In the end, she was forced to lead a solitary life,” he said.
‘Love jihad’ is a term popularised by radical Hindu groups to describe what they believe is an organised conspiracy of Muslim men to force or trick Hindu women into conversion and marriage.
Ramachandran said certain pro-radical scenes were depicted softly and sought a direction to the CBFC to ensure that the film, to be released on February 9, would be certified only after making sure that it depicted the real life of the writer. The film’s director could not be reached for comments. The film is based on Das’ autobiography Ente Katha (My Story).