Madras HC directive to Tamil Nadu govt on 'casteist' Bahubali film dialogue

The Madras High Court on Monday directed government to issue a circular to all District Collectors about the Censor board's decision to remove certain casteist reference in the blockbuster film "Bahubali" so that it was not shown as alleged in some theatres in southern Tamil Nadu.

Justice R.Sudhakar and Justice VM Velumani of the Madurai bench said the District Collectors should ensure that the deleted portion of the dialogue was not shown in the Tamil version of the bilingual epic historical fiction film.

They should take legal action against the theatres that showed the film without effecting the deletion made by the Central Board of Film Certification. When the petition came up for hearing, the gentral government's counsel said the censor board had already ordered deletion of the objectionable portion.

Petitioners, including Jakkaiyan of Madurai and Sankar of Tiruchendur belonging to Dalit outfits, said a portion of the dialgue had a reference to the name of a caste in a deregatory sense to the community and sought a direction to the officials to remove it.

Earlier, the court had ordered notice to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Regional Censor Board. Protesting against the casteist reference, members of the Dalit outfit had attacked a theatre here last month.