SC judges to watch Patwardhan film

New Delhi, July 20 (UNI) Two judges of the Supreme Court will watch Anand Patwardhan's 1995 documentary film 'Father, Son and Holy War', a critique of the male psyche and its relationship to communal violence, before deciding whether to show it on Doordarshan.

The film landed in the apex court after the public broadcaster filed an appeal against a Bombay High Court order asking it to telecast the film.

Winner of two national awards in 1996 for the 'Best Social Film' and 'Best Investigative Film', the film had become the subject of a protracted legal battle in 1998 when Patwardhan went to the Bombay High Court seeking permission to telecast it on Doordarshan.

Court battles are, of course, nothing new for Patwardhan, whose earlier three documentaries too were shown on television after court ruled in their favour.

'Bombay our City' (1985) on the plight of Mumbai's poor, 'In Memory of Friends' (1990) on the fight for communal harmony in strife-torn Punjab and 'Ram Ke Naam' (1992) on the Ayodhya crisis, all needed court intervention before it was shown on television.

The film was viewed earlier too by a court. In February 2001, the Bombay High Court, which watched the film, had asked Doordarshan to telecast it within six weeks.

Prasar Bharati had constituted a committee, which included Bengali director Buddhadeb Dasgupta, to review the film after it was directed by the Supreme Court on an appeal against the Bombay High Court order.

Another larger committee was constituted later including religious leaders after the previous committee said religious leaders should watch the film before a decision was made as it contained passages that were of religio-political nature.

Patwardhan, however, had to knock the doors of justice once again when the Bombay High Court again ruled in his favour in 2003 before Prasar Bharati appealed in the Supreme Court.

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