Made interventions, not known to public, for JSK's release: Suresh Gopi

Dubai: Union Minister of State and hero of the controversial film Janaki V vs. State of Kerala (JSK), Suresh Gopi, has said that he had made some interventions for the release of the film, and those were not made public. The film had faced the Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) scrutiny over the use of a Hindu goddess’ name for the protagonist in the film, who was a victim of rape and was questioned inside a court by an advocate of a “different faith”. The said advocate, representing the accused, uses problematic questions, which the CBFC claimed could create disruptions to public order and hurt religious sentiments.

Talking at a press conference in the UAE, Suresh Gopi, the MLA from Kerala’s Thrissur, said that he had made an intervention into the delay in the release of the film by contacting and discussing with important leaders, who are his friends, leading to corrections in the film. But he did not reveal this secret intervention to either the producer of the film, the media, or the public. However, he said that he did not interfere with or influence any official system in the matter as a minister.

At the press conference, conducted as part of the promotion of the film, he said that if he had intervened using the power of his office, the public would have called it corruption. He also did not feel the need to censor parts of the film, and CBFC demanded 96 cuts. But in the end, censoring was done only in two places, Suresh Gopi said.

Finally, he added that this is not a propaganda film.

The film's director, Praveen Narayanan, said that the allegations that a controversy was created for publicity for the film are not true. Such a controversy arose only just before the film's release, after the shooting was completed, he said. It was never intended, he added and said that those allegations are saddening.