SJ Surya arrested, released on bail
Tamil film actor-director S J Suryah who was responnsible for
musically driven box office hits such as "New" and "Ah Ahh - Best
Friend" was arrested by city police on Tuesday in connection with a
case against him for allegedly throwing a mobile phone at a woman
censor board official. Non-bailable warrant issued against S J
Suryah. He was later produced before the 14th Metropolitan
Magistrate, Govindarajulu, who granted him conditional bail, which
included executing a bond for Rs 5,000 with two sureities for like
sum. The magistrate also directed him to appear before the police
daily and assist the police in the investigation. Yesterday, the
magistrate Govindarajulu rejected Suryah's plea to dispense with
his appearance in court on the ground that he was busy shooting a
film. The magistrate issued the NBW and posted the case for hearing
on September 6. According to the complainant Vanathy Srinivasan,
the actor threw a mobile phone at her after he was denied
permission to add a song to Tamil film New. She lodged a complaint
with the city police. On August 5, the Madras High Court had
directed the film censor board to revoke its certification for New,
directed by Suryah, after expressing deep concern over the
vulgarity in it
Sharmila Tagore, chairperson of the Central Board of Film
Certification (CBFC), will hold discussions with officials of the
southern region censor panel in Chennai, in the wake of the recent
Madras High Court judgment on the Tamil film, New.
On August 5, the Madras High Court passed an order revoking the
certification to the film New. This is the first time that a film
is being banned from screening after a successful run.
The court's observation, terming the SJ Surya film as "vulgar", has
shaken officials in the censor board, who fear the imbroglio has
shown them in poor light.
According to Babu Ramaswamy, CBFC (Chennai region), the panel
members who viewed the film New in Chennai, refused to grant it a
certification, prompting Surya to take the film to the Mumbai
censor board. At that point of time, Bollywood, which was
campaigning to do away with censorship per se, granted
certification to his film immediately.
It is to avoid such "errors" in future that Sharmila Tagore is
holding a consultative meeting with the officials. There is a
feeling among a section of the censor officials that since Mumbai
granted the certification, those members also need to be
represented in the forthcoming meeting.
Meanwhile, the Tamil film industry is not showing any signs of
being affected by the turn of events with regard to New. Many new
films, which are either blatantly vulgar or violent, continue to
pass by the censors.
