'Atrocious': Kerala High Court Admits Plea Against 'Churuli' Movie For Excessive Use Of Abusive Language

The Kerala High Court on Thursday admitted a writ petition filed against the Malayalam movie 'Churuli' which was recently released on an OTT platform for excessive use of abusive and obscene language.

After a portion of the said movie was played in the courtroom, Justice N. Nagaresh issued notice to all the respondents and orally remarked that the dialogues used in the movie were 'atrocious in nature'.

The observation came in a plea filed by a lawyer Peggy Fen through Advocates C.A. Anoop and Krishna R. alleging that the Lijo Jose Pellissery- directed film used offensive words excessively in a deliberate attempt to garner more attention to it. 

"Even though the movie Churuli is capable of invoking a sense of curiosity and mystery in the minds of the audience, there is an overdose of foul language. It contains obscene and filthy languages which are opposed to public morality and tranquillity", the plea had said.

The plea stated that the words used by the characters in the movie are not used in the public, and more so, not so lavishly. It adds that a person of common parlance will not sue such language even in the privacy of their own homes. 

The lawyer has also accused the movie of having used words and phrases outraging the modesty of women and children equally, leaving the viewers irritated and distressed. 

The primary concern of the petitioner is that films as a form of art influence common people of the society. It is common among people to imitate dialogues from movies and if this is the case with the impugned movie, it will affect the public morality and tranquillity.

"More than exposure to this type of filthy language and explicit content, children especially teenagers could emulate deviant behaviour," reads the plea.

As such, it is contended that the Censor Board has violated the rules and regulations by sanctioning the release of the movie and that such a release even attracts provisions of IPC.

The petitioner has prayed that the Court must investigate how the movie passed the Censor Board despite being against its rules ad regulations. She has further urged the Court to issue orders to expeditiously take the movie down from SonyLiv.

The mystery-horror film Churuli was released on Sony LIV, a public OTT platform, on November 19th 2021. Directed and co-produced by Lijo Jose Pellissery and written by S Hareesh, the plot is based on a short story from the book Kaligaminarile Kuttavalikal, authored by Vinoy Thomas. Soon after its release, social media was flooded with trolls including references to the profanities displayed in the movie and the confusing plot twist. 

The petitioner pointed out that since the outbreak of the pandemic and the resultant shutdown of theatres, most families now have subscribed to OTT platforms. This implies that children and teenagers also have access to the content therein.  

Interestingly, the Censor Board had earlier taken the stance that the version released on the OTT platform was not the copy certified by the Board. 

Case Title: Peggy Fen v. Central Board of Film Certification & Ors.