Must biopic films get permission by heirs, Telangana high court asks Censor Board

Hyderabad: Dealing with the petition urging that issuance of censor certificate to Sye Raa, a biopic, starring Megastar Chiranjeevi, be stalled, the Telangana High Court asked the Central Board of Film Certification, whether any provision in the Cinematography Act permits the legal heirs or family members of the protagonist about whom the movie was picturised to give a nod to make the biopic. Justice A Rajashekher Reddy of the Telangana high court on Wednesday was dealing with the petition of Doravari Dastagiri Reddy and others , who sought the court to stall the censor board from clearing the movie.

The Court directed Mr Sanjeev Kalvala, the Counsel for the Censor Board, to inform the provisions of the Cinematography Act, which the petitioners raised as their grounds that their consent must be required before releasing the biopic.

The Judge also directed the petitioners to delete the name of superstar Amitabh Bacchan from the list of respondents in their plea filed against the release of Sye Raa.

Surprised about the mention of Amitabh Bachchan as a respondent in the petition, the Judge asked how he was related to the making of the movie when no allegations were made against him in the petition.

The case has been adjourned to Thursday.

The petitioners from Nandyal in Kurnool district claimed that they were the legal heirs of freedom fighter Uyyalavada Narasimha Reddy whose life history was the central theme of the movie and they wanted to see the preview of the movie first. They were also demanding royalty from the movie makers as the story belonged to a member of their family.