'Hamare Baarah' Gets Bombay HC Green Light For Release; Objectionable Scenes To Be Removed

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday lifted the stay for the release of the controversial film 'Hamare Barah' after the filmmakers' agreed to make three changes.

After a thorough review, the court concluded that the film did not contain any objectionable content against the Quran or the Muslim community, instead finding that the movie aimed at the "upliftment of women."

The court specified that three dialogues have been muted and all other contentious parts removed. The bench also recommended further edits to ensure no scenes would be deemed offensive. For instance, a scene in which a character threatens to kill his daughter while invoking God's name was identified as potentially problematic. The court suggested that removing this line would not compromise the filmmakers' creative freedom.

"The movie is in fact for the upliftment of women. The movie has a Maulana misinterpreting the Quran and in fact one Muslim man objects to the same in the scene. So this shows that people should apply their mind and not blindly follow such Maulanas," NDTV report quoted the High Court as saying.

The court also deemed a Rs 5 lakh fine appropriate for the filmmakers for releasing the trailer with uncertified scenes and directed that the amount be donated to a charity of the petitioner's choice.

Originally slated for release on June 7 and later June 14, the new release date for 'Hamare Baarah' is yet to be announced.

The film, directed by Kamal Chandra, has been jointly produced by Birender Bhagat, Ravi S Gupta, Sanjay Nagpal, and Sheo Balak Singh. It stars Annu Kapoor, Manoj Joshi, and Paritosh Tripathi.