CBFC made demands for Janaki name change through informal ways: Filmmaker M.B. Padmakumar-OxBig News Network

One of the things that filmmaker M.B. Padmakumar remembers from several interactions with Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) officials for the certification of his upcoming film Token Number is the lack of any official communication regarding the alleged issues related to the film. Although his film was cleared by the regional office of the CBFC, censor officials from the CBFC headquarters in Mumbai refused to certify the film until he changed the name of either of the protagonists – Janaki and Abraham.

“All the communication regarding the name change happened informally. If the Chairperson had any objection, the CBFC should have put it down in writing. When I asked the officials, they said that there would be no such official communication. Later, I was informed that the CEO will call me, but this call was through WhatsApp to prevent call recording,” Mr. Padmakumar tells The Hindu. Mr. Padmakumar himself was part of the CBFC regional committee until two months ago.

The filmmaker went public with his ordeal only after the controversy broke out on Saturday over the CBFC demanding the makers of the film JSK – Janaki Vs State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, to change the title of the film. Both films faced an issue over the name ‘Janaki’. Mr. Padmakumar’s film explores the unlikely friendship between 65-year old Janaki and 72-year old Abraham. “Janaki breaks out of the behaviour that the society expects from a senior citizen, who is not supposed to have any dream of her own. Abraham also finds himself in the same boat. The film explores what happens when they meet each other by chance,” he says.

However, the censor officials found it a problem that a person named Janaki, the other name of Hindu goddess Sita, had anything to do with someone named Abraham. He was asked to change either of the names and was even given a list of possible names.

“I tried to reach out to them through various leaders, but after the initial promises, most of them turned hostile. After this, I sent an official email to the Union Minister of Broadcasting, which angered them further. I gave up as I was broken mentally and decided to change the name Janaki to Jayanthi, because the lip sync would match. However, the officials even objected to that name. At that point, I said that I won’t be able to give in. I was ready for the film not even getting released. Finally, they agreed to the name change and issued the certification on June 9,” says Mr. Padmakumar who debuted with the award winning My Life Partner in 2014.