Kerala HC fails to stay 'S Durga' screening at IFFI

The Centre on Friday suffered a setback when a division bench of the Kerala High Court failed to stay the single bench order earlier this week that directed the screening of the certified copy of Malayalam film "S Durga" at the 48th IFFI.

The Centre had on Thursday filed an appeal before the division bench against the single bench's verdict that asked for the film to be screened at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

Even while opposing the single bench order, the Centre's counsel pointed out that including the film at this time would create a problem for the schedule, but the division bench failed to stay the single bench verdict and instead it accepted the petition in its file.

"S Durga", a Malayalam movie directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, and Ravi Jadhav's Marathi movie "Nude" were controversially dropped by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry from the screening schedule at the IFFI's Indian Panorama section, despite the jury's approval.

The crew of "S Durga" continues to wallow in uncertainty over whether the film will be screened at all.

--IANS

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