High Court sets a precedent by not only dismissing a petition but also fining the petitioner for filing one against 'Ram Leela'

The Rashtrawadi Shiv Sena had recently filed a petition against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming movie. The political party contended that Ram Leela, which is scheduled for release on November 15, has nothing to do with mythology and that it is a misleading title. The petitioner also demanded that the title has to be changed.

Adding a twist to the drama, we now learn that the petitioner had been fined a sum of Rs 50,000 for wasting the court's time. A source close to the film tells us, `Rashtrawadi Shiv Sena contested that the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, had no artistic relevance.`

In its decision, the court questioned the petitioner's sagacity as the party has not viewed the film yet as it has not been commercially released. `In any event, the effect of the words, titles and scenes will have to be judged from the standards of a reasonable, firm and courageous people, not from that of a weak and vacillating mind,` sums up the source.


Blast from the past

In recent times, several filmmakers have faced unnecessary legal battles...

>> Director Subhash Kapoor faced a similar issue when there were three petitions filed against his movie Jolly LLB. Shedding light on the absurdity of such proceedings, he says, `It's very unfortunate that this happens to films in our country. Once the Censor Board approves the film, nobody should have any business objecting to its content. The Censor Board consists of sensible people from all walks of life.`

>> The recently released Akshay Kumar's movie BOSS too ran into trouble when a petition was filed before the Delhi High Court seeking stay on its release. The presmise of objection was on the ground that a song of the film contained vulgar words.

Producer Ashwin Varde says, `I don't think I have anything against the petitions. Unfortunately, producers and filmmakers get vulnerable during the release of the film. It's a good thing that the HC has considered petition as invalid by not only dismissing it but also penalising the petition.`