No Ban on ‘Mahaprabhu Jagannath’ Animated Film, Says Supreme Court

Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the release of the animated film ‘Mahaprabhu Jagannath’. A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan upheld its earlier order from July 17 and said there is no legal hurdle to the film’s release after the Rath Yatra.

During the hearing, the temple side argued that depicting Lord Jagannath in an animated or ‘cartoon’ form hurts the religious sentiments of devotees.

Rejecting the argument, the Supreme Court orally observed that art and creativity cannot be curtailed based on the sensitivities of a few people. The bench said that if that logic was applied, all artworks, paintings, TV serials and literature based on epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata would also have to be banned.

Justice B.V. Nagarathna said that animation films are primarily made for children and that producers usually carry out extensive research before taking up any creative project. She added that an artist’s creativity cannot be stifled merely because of objections raised by some individuals.

On the other hand, Advocate General Pitambar Acharya, appearing for the temple committee, said the producers had earlier promised to make changes to objectionable scenes after a special screening, but failed to keep that promise. He also alleged that Lord Jagannath had been portrayed in the film in a manner similar to ‘Doraemon’ and ‘Spider-Man’.

However, senior counsel Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the production house, told the court that no such assurance to make changes had been given.

Dismissing the plea in the end, the Supreme Court said the producers may make changes if they wish to, at their own discretion, but the court will not sit in judgment over it.