SC disposes of plea against 'Ghooskhor Pandat' after filmmaker Neeraj Pandey says title withdrawn

NEw new delhi, The sublime margaret court on th disposed of a plea against the upcoming Netflix criminal offense thriller 'Ghooskhor Pandat' after filmmaker Neeraj Pandey informed it that he has withdrawn the title of the movie along with all publicity material.A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan disposed of the plea seeking a stay on the release of the film after taking Pandey's affidavit on record and said it is expected that there shall be a quietus to this controversy in all respects.The plea was filed by Atul Mishra, national organisation secretary of the Brahman Samaj of India.In his affidavit, Pandey said that though the new title of the Manoj Bajpayee-starrer has not yet been finalised, it will not be similar to the earlier name."I respectfully submit that the earlier title, 'Ghooskhor Pandit', stands unequivocally withdrawn and shall not be used in any manner whatsoever."While the new title has not yet been finalised, I undertake that any title that may hereafter be identified and adopted shall not be similar to, or evocative of, the earlier title in respect of which objections were raised, and shall accurately reflect the narrative and intent of the film without giving rise to unintended interpretations," Pandey said."I further state that the film is a reformative, fictional police drama. The principal photography has been completed and the film is still at the editing stage. As a result, the film has not been released. I also state that all promotional material, posters, trailers and publicity content under the earlier title have already been withdrawn, prior to the listing of the present petition," he added.During the hearing, Justice Nagarathna said, "There was nothing wrong with the word 'Pandit', but 'Pandit' with 'Ghooskhor'. We have a problem with the second word, not the first word."Pandey's counsel said all trailers, posters and promotional material released under the disputed title have already been taken down.The affidavit further said that the new title of the movie shall accurately reflect the narrative and intent of the film without giving rise to unintended interpretations."I state categorically and unequivocally that neither I nor my production house had any deliberate or malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India."I further state that the film does not insult or attempt to insult any religion, or community or the religious beliefs of any class of citizens of India, whether by words, visual depiction, title, promotional material, electronic means, or otherwise," Pandey said.He added that considering the concerns received from the public pursuant to the release of the film's teaser on February 3, he has withdrawn the promotional material relating to the movie on February 6."I say that the film is a fictional police drama that revolves around a criminal investigation. The film does not portray any caste, religion, community, or sect as corrupt," the producer of the film said.The top court rapped Pandey on February 12 over the title of his movie, observing that a section of society cannot be denigrated in the name of freedom of expression.The apex court had issued notices to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Central Board of Film Certification and Pandey on the plea against the film.The plea alleged that the movie promotes caste and religion-based stereotyping and threatens public order, communal harmony and constitutional values.It alleged that the movie title and storyline were prima facie offensive and derogatory, which portray the Brahmin community in a defamatory manner.The PIL objected to the use of the word "Pandat", a caste and religion-identifying title, alongside "Ghooskhor", which denotes bribery and moral corruption.The court had directed Pandey to file an affidavit stating that his film did not denigrate any section of society.Besides Bajpayee, 'Ghooskhor Pandat', produced by Pandey, also stars Nushrat Bharuccha, Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi and Divya Dutta.On Tuesday, Netflix India informed the Delhi High Court that the film would be renamed."The producer has taken a conscious decision in light of the concern that has arisen to change the title of the film from 'Ghooskhor Pandat' to an alternate title which more accurately reflects the film's narrative and intent," the HC had recorded.This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.