Gujarat High Court stays release of Hindi film ‘Maharaj’
The movie is based on the 1862 libel case filed by Vaishnavite religious leader Jadunathji against social reformer Karsandas Mulji.
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The Gujarat High Court on Thursday stayed the release of the Hindi-language film Maharaj and also issued notices to its production company Yash Raj Films and the streaming platform Netflix, The Indian Express reported.
The film, directed by Siddharth P Malhotra and starring actor Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan in his debut role, was set to premiere on Netflix on Friday. It is based on the 1862 Maharaj libel case.
The premise of the film is the 1862 trial in a case that had been filed by Vaishnavite religious leader Jadunathji against social reformer Karsandas Mulji. In an article in Satyaprakash, which was a Gujarati weekly circulated in Bombay, Mulji had brought to light the alleged sexual liaisons of Jadunathji with his female devotees. The case was eventually dismissed by two British judges of the Supreme Court of Bombay.
On Thursday, Justice Sangeeta Vishen temporarily restrained the film after hearing a petition filed by followers of the Vaishnavite Pustimargi sect, who identify themselves as devotees of the deity Krishna.
According to the petitioners, excerpts of the film contained “scandalous and defamatory language, which affects the Pustimargi sect as a whole”, The Indian Express reported.
The film’s release was “likely to incite feelings of hatred and violence” against the group, the petition said, adding that this would be in breach of...
