The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Friday issued a show-cause notice to the makers of Pratik Gandhi-starrer Bhavai for changing the film’s title and flouting certification rules by tampering with the content of the film.
Directed by Hardik Gajjar and backed by Pen Studios, the film was earlier titled Raavan Leela. However, after receiving flak for hurting religious sentiments, the makers changed the title to Bhavai.
According to a News18 report, the CBFC has now objected to this change, which was made after the film was certified by the board. The show-cause notice was sent to the makers after they “released the trailer in a distorted form.” Aside from the change to the title, the content in the trailer also allegedly does not match the certified version of the film.
The CBFC has stated that the changes are “clearly in contravention of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules.”
“CFBC has sought explanation from the makers of Bhavai for flouting certification rules and tampering with the content of the film. CBFC has always tried to stay true to its guidelines and has been making the certification process as smooth and systematic as possible,” Prasoon Joshi, chief of the certification board, told News18.
Earlier, after the film’s trailer release, the makers had released a statement that said, “With due respect to the concerns regarding the title of the promo and dialogue in the promo, we wish to clarify that the dialogue and the above title Raavan Leela is not part of the film and has been removed from the promo as well respecting the sentiments of our viewers.”
Apart from the title, the makers had also removed a sequence showing two actors, playing Ram and Raavan, in conversation with each other after a section of people found it offensive.
Bhavai is scheduled to hit the theatres on October 1.
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Set against the backdrop of the popular folk theatre form from Gujarat of the same name, it marks the first Hindi feature film as a lead for Gandhi, who shot to fame with the web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. The actor plays Rajaram Joshi, a stage artist who essays the role of Ravan in a Ram Leela presentation, the traditional performance of the Ramayana.
Bhavai also stars Aindrita Ray, Rajendra Gupta, Rajesh Sharma, and Abhimanyu Singh in pivotal roles.