As weird as the title sounds, the panel of cops who was asked to watch the Malayalam cult film, Churuli, have given both the film and the OTT platform a clean chit. The psychological thriller feature had come under fire months ago, when it had originally released for streaming on SonyLIV. The High Court of Kerala had accepted a petition given by a subscriber of the OTT platform and the film was in limbo for sometime. The film’s liberal use of vulgar language had been the main issue but the “cop panel” didn’t find the language use illogical or a hit to the Keralite’s moral sensibilities (part of the original complaint).
After months of deliberation, The Kerala High Court (HC) ordered the chief of police to form a team to watch the movie Churuli to check whether there is a statutory violation in the movie. A report then had to be submitted within three days of watching the movie. The petition was filed by Peggy Fen regarding the content of the Lijo Jose Pellissery film alleging it was abusive and obscene. Justice PV Kunhikrishnan was the one who had added the police chief in the order.
The Director General of Police (AKA DGP) K. Padmakumar watched the film with his panel and observed the following:-
1) The language used by a group of characters living in a remote, imaginary land and adverse conditions need not be civil always.
2) The filmmaker has the freedom and the right to decide the type of language that the characters he created should speak. Furthermore, these characters are defined by the language they use. So it is not even possible to analyse the language that they use in isolation. The narrative of Churuli shows that such a language is necessary for these characters.
3) SonyLIV is a subscription-based platform, which means it is not an open space where the obscenity charge is not applicable.
4) Multiple warnings were including before the film is show for streaming – the ‘A’ certificate (restricted to adults) as well as descriptions such as “strong language, violence, threat visuals” are prominently displayed.
Due to these observations, the artiste has not committed any crime and the panel has recommended that the green light should be given to allow Churuli to continue streaming on SonyLIV.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
