After a prolonged battle with the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), film-maker M.S. Raj on Monday said his docu-drama Marina Puratchi, which is based on events that unfolded during the jallikattu protests, has received an ‘U’ certificate and will release in the last week of May.
Speaking to reporters at the Chennai Press Club, film-maker, M.S. Raj said the film went through two revising committees of the CBFC and was denied certification.
“Despite the film being screened in places such as California, Canada, Singapore and so on, I had to go to the Madras High Court for getting the CBFC certification.
“This film will be in the same space as film-maker Michael Moore’s Fahrenhiet 9/11. It investigates the various factors that lead up to the jallikattu protests, the forces behind it and how young people mobilised the protestors and organised it,” he said.
Mr. Raj added that the ‘U’ certificate for the film comes with certain conditions. “I have been asked to mute the words ‘Peta’ and ‘Madhiya Arasu’ several times. It is quite telling that a film about a specific protest cannot speak about an organisation against which there were protests,” he said.
He added that the film’s certification was given after a three-month delay.