NEW DELHI: The proceedings in the Supreme Court challenging the ban on 'Padmaavat' by four states saw a lively discussion among the judges and lawyers on dogmas and the Victorian mindset of governments which have impeded the reading of classics, movie based on sensitive issues and staging of plays.
On the table were classics like
Kalidasa's 'Meghadoota, love story from Mahabharata on 'Nala and Damayanti', 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', 'Gandhi: Naked Ambition' by Jad Adams and 'Man Who Killed Gandhi'. The controversial plays which were brought up and elicited caustic comments from the CJI Dipak Misra-led bench included Pradip Dalvi's Marathi play 'Mi Nathuram Godse Boltoy' and Vijay Tendulkar's 'Sakharam Binder'.
Films that found mention were Shekhar Kapoor's 'Bandit Queen', Prakash Jha's 'Aarakshan' and K A Abbas's 'Tale of Four Cities'. The CJI also cited the artistic freedom that flows in street plays, theatre, drama and 'geeti natyas' (dance dramas) popular in the hinterland.
Justice Misra said a puritan Odia scholar had translated 'Nala and Damayanti' into the regional language in 1884 while omitting certain stanzas saying it was not appropriate for readers to digest. "He had a perception befitting that of the Victorian era. Just imagine how Kalidasa could get away with Meghadoota in that era. We need to evolve and understand the importance of right of free speech. If we apply Victorian era mindset, then I have no hesitation in saying that 60% of the classics would not be available for reading," the CJI said.
This provided the opening for senior advocate Harish Salve to argue that artistic expressions must be given liberal licence. "The film 'Padmaavat' has no distortion of history and is based on the famous epic of the same name written in 1540 by well known Sufi poet
Malik Muhammad Jayasi. But one day, I would love to argue how artistic expressions can have licence to distort history."
Salve said the western world had made 'Jesus Christ Superstar', a 1970 rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. The work was loosely based on the gospels' accounts of the last week of Jesus's life, beginning with preparations for the arrival of Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem and ending with the crucifixion.
Not intending to widen the debate to areas unconnected with 'Padmavaat', the bench said, "Let us not get into that territory." But additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta said artistic freedom of expression could never be a licence to distort history. "Can anyone in India be permitted to make a film showing Mahatma Gandhi sipping whisky?," he said.
The bench said the
Central Board of Film Certification, which is the statutory body under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, to clear films for public exhibition, was bound to examine all scenes in a film and delete those denigrating or degrading women.
Mehta said, "The question on this film is not about denigrating or degrading a woman. Here, it is not just a woman. She is treated like a goddess and worshipped. It is not a simple gender issue to be dealt by the CBFC... Suppose a film has humour about a particular community which is in majority in a state. Can the state not order suspension of screening of that film to avert law and order situation?"
