The producer of the film *Kala Hiran: Battle for Legacy* informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday that the movie is not yet ready for release, even on an OTT platform. The delay is due to the fact that its content has not yet received certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
The submission was made by producer Amit Jani’s counsel before a bench of Justice Jyoti Singh while hearing a petition filed by actor Salman Khan seeking a stay on the film’s release. Salman’s suit, argued by senior advocate Ravi Prakash, said that the producer had repeatedly and publicly admitted that the film is based on him and the criminal proceedings arising from the blackbuck incident in October 1998, and that even the impugned promotional material unmistakably portrayed him through his name, likeness, mannerisms, distinctive personal attributes, iconic films and widely publicised events associated with him.
The suit further said that the teasers and promotional material expressly, as well as by innuendo, convey that he is guilty of offences that are still sub judice. “By staging a dramatised trial, placing fictionalised testimony and purported forensic conclusions before a mass audience and proclaiming the guilt of a character unmistakably identifiable as the Plaintiff, the Defendants have brought about a trial by media in respect of sub judice proceedings, thereby infringing the Plaintiff’s fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and interfering with the administration of justice,” the suit said. Such imputations, the suit said, have been calculated to expose him to hatred, contempt and ridicule, pose a grave threat to his personal safety, and cause serious and irreparable harm to his reputation.
