Naming their protagonist Janaki – a synonym for the Hindu goddess Sita – has reportedly landed two Malayalam filmmakers in trouble with the censor board. The films in question are Janaki Vs State of Kerala and Token Number, both of which faced unofficial objections over the use of the name.
In Janaki Vs State of Kerala, it is the title of the film, as well as the name of the protagonist that apparently drew objections, because the character is a survivor of abuse. Officials allegedly objected to an abuse survivor bearing the name of a Hindu goddess. Notably, veteran actor and BJP Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi plays the male lead in the film.
In the other film, titled Token Number, the protagonist had to change her name from Janaki to Jayanti because it was not to the liking of certain officials that she was in a relationship with a man named Abraham, a Christian.
In both the cases, the communication has been unofficial. There was no direct interaction between the filmmakers and the officials up top of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), tasked with issuing age-appropriate certificates that allowed screenings of films. Actor and filmmaker MB Padmakumar, who directed the independent movie Token Number, told TNM that all the communication happened on Whatsapp calls, and nothing official had been conveyed before he agreed to change the name.
Padmakumar said that the film that explores a socially relevant theme, relationship between Janaki (later renamed Jayanti) and Abraham. He was first asked to change Abraham’s name to a Hindu one, but refused, saying that that would “kill the soul of the film.”
He said that the tone of the calls became threatening, with one caller warning that the film would be blacklisted and denied certification if he didn’t comply.
Padmakumar said that they reluctantly agreed to rename the character Janaki to Jayanti, but were then told that even Jayanti wouldn’t be acceptable, as it too had associations with Hindu goddesses.
“We placed the script with the name Jayanti in it. It was after this that we had official communication with the CBFC, in which they stated that the name has been changed to Jayanti after discussion and mutual agreement with the makers. Only then did we get the ‘U’ certificate,” Padmakumar said.
He said the issue unfolded in May, in the aftermath of the row over the content of Empuraan, the second film in a trilogy starring Mohanlal and directed by Prithviraj. The movie had run into trouble for its portrayal of Hindu-Muslim communal violence that bore close resemblance to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The name change in Padmakumar’s film came to light after it was revealed that Janaki Vs State of Kerala was facing a similar problem. In this case too, filmmaker Pravin Narayanan had not received any formal showcause notice, said filmmaker, producer, and Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) general secretary B Unnikrishnan in a media interaction.
The film, Unnikrishnan said, revolves around the legal battle of an abuse survivor against the state. According to him, officials objected to the character being named Janaki, claiming that “such a victim cannot be named after goddess Sita.”
Questioning the rationale behind this, he pointed out that the CBFC has no official guideline restricting the use of deity names for characters. He further said, “Let them now add a list of names to the guidelines, that we could use for our characters. Whatever Hindu names we use, it would mostly be a synonym of a god or goddess. I am afraid they will next ask me to change my name from the titles.”
He pointed to earlier examples of characters named after Hindu deities, like the villain Viswanathan in Pathram, another Suresh Gopi film, or the name Janaki in a telefilm of his that won several awards. He wondered if Ravanaprabhu, a film in which Janaki falls in love with the title character played by Mohanlal, would not be allowed anymore, or if the Sita in poet Kumaranasan’s poem Chinthavisthayaya Sita, questioning the injustice of her husband, can anymore be chinthavishta (thoughtful).
It is not clear when this condition arose since a 2023 film featuring Navya Nair, titled Janaki Jaane, passed certification even as the protagonist has a phobia for everything around her.
Unnikrishnan said that he had spoken to Suresh Gopi about the certification issues of Janaki Vs State of Kerala. “He said that he had intervened in the issue as soon as he heard but there is no update yet. We are waiting for Pravin to get the showcause notice,” he said.
He added that since all communication so far has been unofficial, it remains unclear whether the objections are governmental or political in nature. He said that the FEFKA would strongly protest such interference.