Plea In Kerala HC By Village Resident Challenges "Derogatory & Incorrect" Portrayal Of Events In Dileep-Starrer Movie 'Thankamani'

A resident of the Thankamani village in Idukki district has moved the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the certificate issued to the film 'Thankamani the Bleeding Village' by the Central Board of Film Certification.

The petitioner submits that the title is defamatory and alleges the occurrence of events that never happened in the village, and as such, is against Section 5(b) of the Cinematograph Act. 

The petitioner had earlier approached the court seeking to remove the alleged fictitious scenes from the movie which was disposed of by Justice Devan Ramachandran. On that occasion, the court noted that the CBFC had not certified the movie yet and that the evaluation wasn't completed. The Court also gave liberty to the petitioner to approach it after the evaluation was completed by the CBFC if their grievances remained.

The Dileep-starrer movie is based on a real-life incident which occurred in Thankamany Village in October 1986.

The plea challenges the "incorrect and derogatory portrayal" of the incident, stating that the teaser hints at incidents of men in the village hiding in the agricultural lands and the women of the village being raped by the Policemen. Petitioner argues that such incidents never happened and there are no official records or documents of such crimes.

It is stated that the incident, in reality, involves a ruckus between students and staff of a private bus named 'Elite” in which, a native of the village lost his life in the shootout and another man lost both limbs.

"Though the natives do not deny the 'Elite' bus incident and the ruckus between the students and the staff that happened that day but the later incidents of the men in the village hiding in the agricultural lands and the women of the village being raped by the Policemen are pure creation of imagination. The surviving members of the incident completely deny such incidents happening in the village" the plea states.

It is argued that such fictitious scenes are stigmatic to the villagers and violate the fundamental rights of the villagers. 

Justice Devan Ramachandran is hearing the matter.

Plea has been filed by Advocate Jomy K Jose, Central Government Counsel Suvin R Menon appeared for CBFC.

Case Number: WP(C) No. 8866 of 2024

Case Title: Biju VR @ Biju Vaishyanparambil v. Central Board of Film Certification and ors.