A single bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed that Malayalam Film S Durga be screened at the ongoing 48th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

The bench gave the verdict after the film’s director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan approached the court following the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s decision to pull out the film from a IFFI jury-suggested list for the Indian Panorama section at the gala.

The court directed that the certified copy of the film should be screened at IFFI, one of the most prestigious film festivals of the country.

Sasidharan, who has been putting up a fight against the system, told IANS: “I am so happy. This is the victory for cinema.”

On Facebook, he wrote: “I usually don’t celebrate victories. But this I can’t stay away. This is the victory of cinema. This is the victory of our democracy. This is the victory of those people from the jury who sacrificed. Cheers India!”

The filmmaker is currently in Brisbane for the 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), where S Durga — previously titled Sexy Durga— is in contention.

The Malayalam film has been recognised internationally.

Expressing happiness for S Durga, popular Malayalam director Kamal, also the Chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the state-owned body that organises the International Film Festival of Kerala, said it was very strange that the film was pulled out.

“One fails to understand on why creativity has to face numerous stumbling blocks after conceiving a film and then going through the shooting and post-production drills… To get it screened, one has to approach the court. This does not augur well,” said Kamal.

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