Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed the release of actor Annu Kapoor's film Hamare Bahar after the producer agreed to remove some objectionable scenes from the film. The film was earlier scheduled to release on June 7, then June 14, but is now likely to release on June 21.
After watching the film, the court suggested some more changes and the producer is ready to make changes accordingly. The High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the film producer for releasing the trailer before the censor board certificate.
On Wednesday, the concerned parties submitted a consent letter to the court and agreed to remove the objectionable scenes and dialogues. The changes will include a 12-second disclaimer for the audience to read and additional verses from the Quran suggested by the petitioners. The petitioners said they have no objection to the release of the film after the changes.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court had said that there was nothing objectionable in the film that was against the Quran or the Muslim community, adding that the aim of the film was actually to uplift women.
The bench of Smt. Colabawala and Puniwala said that the first trailer of the film was objectionable but it has been removed and the objectionable scenes have also been removed from the film.
The court also said that the suggestive film is not a film that the audience can enjoy at home. The film is for the upliftment of women. In the film, the maulana interprets the Quran and in one scene a Muslim man actually opposes it. The court said, therefore, it shows that people should use their intelligence and not blindly follow a maulana.
Several petitions were filed to ban the film, claiming that it insults Muslims and misinterprets the Quran.
The High Court banned the film and later allowed it to be released after cutting the objectionable scenes. As soon as the petitioner appealed to the Supreme Court, the court banned the film and asked the High Court to take an appropriate decision.