Bombay high court to review film on Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath after CBFC denies certification

Mumbai: Mumbai: Bombay high court on Thursday said it would view the film, ‘Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi', reportedly based on the life of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, before deciding on the Aug 17 denial of its certification by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).CBFC flagged certain scenes to back its decision to deny certification for its screening. The bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale asked the producer for a copy of the film with the allegedly objectional scenes highlighted.The film, starring Anant Joshi as Yogi Adityanath, is based on Shantanu Gupta's book, ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister'.The producer moved HC to challenge the CBFC decision as being "mechanical, arbitrary and unreasonable". CBFC said the film was a biopic, while the filmmaker maintained it was a work of fiction. Through its senior counsel, Ravi Kadam, the filmmaker argued that the refusal violates the fundamental right to freedom of speech and trade. CBFC counsel Abhay Khandeparkar said the decision was taken after following due process.HC posted the matter on Aug 25 for further hearing and orders.