Malayalam film Varthamanam has been denied certificate by the Thiruvananthapuram regional office of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The film is set against the backdrop of the student protest in the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi early this year. It is directed by noted filmmaker Sidhartha Siva, and has Parvathy Thiruvoth playing the lead. It is written and produced by Aryadan Shoukath who is a Congress leader.
While the CBFC did not give any reason for the refusal of certificate to the film, V. Sandeep Kumar, a board member of the CBFC, recently tweeted that permission to screen the film was denied as Aryadan Shoukath was its script writer and producer. He later removed his tweet and described the movie as being “anti-national”. Shoukath said, “Nowadays, censor board has several political appointees who have no knowledge of cinema.”
The film will be submitted to the revising committee of the CBFC in Bombay this week itself.
