Clearing the decks for the release of Ya Rab on Friday, the film’s producers told the Bombay High Court that the objectionable scenes and dialogues have been deleted from the film.
The Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra (JUeM) had filed a PIL on Wednesday challenging the release of the film, which they alleged was portraying madrassas as “schools of terror”.
The JUeM said in its petition that it was very upset by the “blatant, fictitious and wrongful depiction of madrassas and the teachers” who impart education to the Muslim students.
The matter had come up before a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M.S. Sanklecha on Thursday, said petitioner and JUeM spokesman Gulzar Azmi.
At the hearing, after the counsel for the movie producers informed the court that the objectionable portions have been replaced, the court declined to put a stay on the release of the film.
However, the matter has been adjourned till February 13 so that the JUeM can approach the court afresh after suitably amending its petition about the “objectionable” content of the film, said Azmi.
“A madrassa not only imparts quality education, but also gives shelter to orphans. They are not centres of any such anti-national activity. There are no incidents anywhere in the state where any terror act or anti-national activities are associated with a madrassa,” Azmi argued in his petition.
“The exhibition of such gross untruths on the big screen can create general disturbances and also lead to communal disharmony.”
Directed by Hasnain Hyderabadwala, Ya Rab stars TV reality show Bigg Boss fame actor Ajaz Khan among others and has been promoted and released by veteran film personality Mahesh Bhatt’s company, Vishesh Films.
