HC refuses to stay release of movie 'Haseena Parkar'

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today refused to stay the release of the Shraddha Kapoor starrer movie “Haseena Parkar”, saying it can’t pass last-minute orders on a film cleared by the censor board. The film named after and based on the life of mob boss Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar, is slated for release tomorrow.

A city resident filed a PIL in the high court today opposing the film’s release. The petitioner contended that several dialogues in the movie were “anti-national” and that the film made light of a “sensitive issue such as the 1993 blasts in Mumbai”.

“This movie is based on the life of a real person. It tends to glorify an underworld don’s sister. The dialogues shown in the film’s trailer are anti-national and anti-social,” the petitioner claimed. “Also, the film seeks to provide entertainment through a sensitive issue as the 93 blasts,” he contended.

A bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar, however, questioned why the petitioner chose to approach the court just a day before the film’s release. The bench also said since the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) had already cleared the movie for a public release, it needn’t interfere.

“Are we above CBFC? The CBFC must have taken all objectionable material into consideration while granting the certificate to the film as per the statutory provision. No one is above such provision,” the bench said.

“Several others too must have seen the trailers. But no one came to us with objections. How can this then be a subject of a PIL? We can’t pass last minute interim orders against release of a film cleared by the CBFC,” the bench noted.

The filmmakers too questioned the timing of the plea.

“The film has been in the making since 2015. The trailers have been out since July and the film has already been released overseas. Yet, the petitioner chooses to come at the last minute. Similar last minute petitions against release of films in the past have been frowned upon by courts,” said the counsel for the film’s producers.