Naik Naik releases The Dirty Picture

The much-publicized “The Dirty Picture” starring Vidya Balan was released after the High Court of Andhra Pradesh dismissed the petition challenging the release of the movie on December 1..The much-publicized “The Dirty Picture” starring Vidya Balan was released after the High Court of Andhra Pradesh dismissed the petition challenging the release of the movie on December 1..Vadlaparla Naga Vara Prasad, claiming to be the brother of late South Indian actress Vadlapata Vijayalakshmi (popularly known as “Silk Smitha”) filed a writ petition in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh seeking orders against the grant of Central Board of Film Certification (“CBFC”) certificate for the movie..The Petitioner contended that the movie was made based on the life of his sister and filmmakers never obtained permission from her family..The Petition was filed against the CBFC, producers of the Film Balaji Motion Pictures Limited, Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor and the director of the movie Milan Luthria..Ameet Naik, Managing Partner, Naik Naik & Company along with Niranjan Reddy represented the Producers and the Director of the movie..The CBFC was represented by Partner Mayur Reddy from Verus Advocates..Ameet Naik argued at length clarifying that the movie is an Independent film and not a biopic of Silk Smitha as alleged by the Petitioner..He submitted that the Petitioner’s assumptions are driven by press reports which are nothing but hearsay information released without consent, thus cannot be relied upon. It is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental..Rebutting the argument of defamation, Ameet Naik submitted that the sanction for public exhibition was guided by the Cinematograph Act and Rules there under..He further submitted that Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 states that a certificate for public exhibition cannot be granted if a film or any part of it involves defamation..He also submitted that the movie had been granted Censor Certificate by the CBFC, which is the expert body constituted under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, to decide on film certification, and the screening of the same cannot be prohibited at the instance of the Petitioner on basis of speculative press reports..The Court in its order noted that if the Petitioner felt that if there is anything defamatory in the movie with regard to depiction of his sister’s (life) in a bad light he could file a suit for defamation, reports IBN..The movie Dirty Picture was released yesterday with an IMDb rating of 6.6.