The Kerala High Court division bench on Thursday reserved its judgment on the appeal filed by the producer of The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond, challenging the single judge's interim order that stayed the film's release.
The movie was originally scheduled to hit theatres tomorrow, February 27.
The bench examined the legality of the single judge's decision to put the release on hold for 15 days, despite the film having received certification.
During the hearing, the judges observed that the petitions opposing the film's certification appeared to be in the nature of a public interest litigation and questioned how such pleas had been entertained at the initial stage.
With the division bench now reserving orders, the fate of the film's release hinges on the forthcoming judgment.
Earlier today, the Kerala High Court ordered a two-week interim stay on the release of the Hindi film.
The film, directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah under Sunshine Pictures, had been embroiled in controversy since the release of its promotional material.
The makers had consistently maintained that the story was inspired by "true incidents".
The High Court had been hearing a petition filed by Sreedev Namboodiri, who sought the cancellation of the film's U/A certificate. In his plea, he argued that The Kerala Story 2 portrayed Kerala and its people in a negative light and perpetuated harmful stereotypes.
During the proceedings, the court criticised the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), stating that it appeared to have cleared the film without adequately applying its mind. The bench observed that the Board must take the petitioner's concerns into proper consideration.
The court further directed that the film should not be released until the arguments were fully heard, remarking that the teaser and trailer had the potential to disrupt communal harmony.
Earlier, the CBFC had suggested 16 modifications to the film, which has a running time of 131 minutes and 24 seconds. Following these changes, it had granted the film a U/A 16+ certificate.
