A poster of ‘Maharaj’
The Gujarat High Court on Thursday temporarily stayed the release of the Netflix film. MaharajThe film, which marks the debut of Aamir Khan’s son Junaid, was scheduled to stream on Netflix from June 14. It is based on the 1862 colonial-era Maharaja defamation case.
According to the report, the petition was filed against the release of the film by members of the Vaishnav Pushtimargi sect, who describe themselves as devotees of Lord Shri Krishna. The petitioners claimed that the film, based on the historical Maharaj defamation case, is likely to incite feelings of ‘hatred and violence’ against the Pushtimargi sect, which is in violation of the code of conduct under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and the Self-Regulation Code of Over the Top Technology (OTT).
The petitioners also said that the producers neither rejected their request for screening nor gave any clarification about the content of the film.
The 1862 defamation case centered on a confrontation between a Vaishnavite religious leader and social reformer Karsandas Mulji. In an article Karsandas had Satya PrakashA Gujarati weekly published in Bombay had exposed the religious guru’s sexual relations with his female devotees, leading to a defamation suit against him. The defamation suit was eventually dismissed by two British judges of the Bombay Supreme Court.
The Gujarat High Court has sent notices to Netflix India, Yash Raj Films, Netflix, Central Board of Certification and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and issued an interim order to stay the release of the film. The next hearing will be on June 18.
Earlier, hashtags like ‘Boycott Netflix’ and ‘Ban Maharaj Film’ trended on social media, with a section of users demanding a ban. MaharajThey claim that the film hurts religious sentiments.
