Film Neelam' denied certification

We had earlier reported that director  G. Venkatesh is churning out a film titled Neelam, which focuses on the rise of rebel groups and the reason why the Sri Lankan civil war broke out. The movie traces out a period of 40 years from 1960s to 2000. The film was revived recently after being stalled for a while and the director recently wrapped up the shooting.

The trailer cut of Neelam is ready and the director submitted it for certification to the CBFC. However, the CBFC denied certification for the trailer (four minutes 30 seconds). Speaking to DC, director Venkatesh says, “I’m disappointed! I had to hold the shooting mid-way, as I started receiving threats. It is with great difficulty, I had wrapped up the shoot. To know that even the trailer doesn’t pass certification is tragic. The officials felt like the film might affect the relationship between Sri Lanka and India. The officials have sent a notice to the head office at Mumbai and the movie is likely to get banned as well.”

He further added, “As a creator I have only shown how the genocide happened. I do not support the LTTE nor Prabhakaran. In fact, even the CBFC members loved the movie, but as government officials, they are not in a position to certify the movie. If I do not get a proper reply from the Mumbai head office, I will have to deal this matter at the court.”