Raza academy wants objectionable Malayalam film song blocked

The Raza Academy here has asked the Central Board of Film Certification to block the video of a song from the upcoming Malayalam film 'Oru Adaar Love' for "hurting" religious sentiments of Muslims.

In a letter addressed to CBFC Chairman Prasoon Joshi on Wednesday, the organisation said an FIR has been lodged in a police station of Hyderabad the film's director, but due to alleged delay in police action, "discontent" among the community was rising.

"The song Manikya Malaraya Poovi (these words can loosely translate as A girl like a pearl flower) of the Malayalam movie Oru Adaar Love (the loose translation for which can be a superlative love) has gone viral and its lyrics contain objectionable text mentioning the name of Islams Holy Prophet and his wife," said the letter.

The outfit called for action against "culprits" and book them without any delay.

"We call upon yourself to immediately issue orders to the departments concerned to act promptly on this complaint and also take measures to block the videos and stop any activities in future which may vitiate the peaceful atmosphere of the country," the organisation said.

The Falaknuma Police in Hyderabad yesterday registered a case against the film's director Omar Lulu over a complaint that the lyrics hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims.

One of the complainants, Zaheer Khan, demanded that either the song be removed from the film or its words be changed.

After the news of the FIR spread, the movies crew members had said the song would be withdrawn.

However, Lulu and music director Shan Rehman held a press conference late last night in Kochi to state they had decided to include the song in the movie as they were getting overwhelming support from the entire Kerala society.

Lulu claimed the song had no objectionable reference and that Muslims in a part of Kerala had been singing it for over four decades.

However, he had said it was for the censor board to take a final call on the matter.

A clip from the song, featuring actor Priya Prakash Varrier, has gone viral on social media.

The complainants, however, said they had not mentioned the actors name in their representation before the police.

The film is slated to be released later this year.