State: Applicable Across India
Year: 2025
Date: June 27, 2025
Source:
Censorship – The Arts
Filmmakers have been asked to change the title of the film as well as the name of the protagonist, Janaki, another name of Hindu goddess Sita
The revising committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has also demanded the makers of the film JSK – Janaki vs State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, to change the title of the film as well as the name of the protagonist. Pravin Narayanan, director of the film, announced the revising committee’s decision in a social media post on Thursday.
The filmmaker had earlier told The Hindu that the Thiruvananthapuram regional office of the CBFC had cleared the censoring of the film on June 18 with a U/A certificate. However, when the regional office forwarded the same to the CBFC headquarters in Mumbai, the higher officials there demanded a change in the title as well as the name of the titular character of Janaki, apparently because the name also refers to the Hindu goddess Sita. It was conveyed to the makers through unofficial channels that the victim of a sexual assault cannot be named after a goddess.
Updated On: July 9, 2025
Janaki Vs State of Kerala row: Producers agree to CBFC suggestions, HC directs censor certificate in three days
“The controversy over the use of the name Janaki in the film JSK – Janaki v/s State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, saw a new development on Wednesday with the film’s producers informing the Kerala High Court that they are willing to incorporate the suggestions made by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Accordingly, changes will be made to the subtitle of the movie, modifying it from Janaki to Janaki V. With this change, the revised title of the film will be JSK – Janaki V v/s State of Kerala.
When the petition filed by Cosmos Entertainments, Tamil Nadu the producer of the film seeking a directive to grant censor certificate, the counsel for the CBFC suggested to remove the character’s name from the film’s subtitle or change it to “”Janaki V”” or “”V Janaki,”” as the character’s full name is Janaki Vidhyadharan. The second is to mute the name “”Janaki”” from a cross-examination scene.
The counsel for the producer also said that they are ready to mute the name Janaki or substitute the name appearing from 1:06:45 to 1:08:32 and from 1:08:33 to 1:08:36. Then the Counsel for the Board submitted that when these changes are made and the edited versions is re-submitted, the certificate can be granted within a further period of three days.”