The Bombay High Court has sought the response of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to a petition filed by the makers of a movie purportedly based on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s life, alleging delay in issuing certification, according to reports
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale also orally remarked that the CBFC was required to issue certificates within a timeline prescribed in law and hence cannot shy away from that obligation. In its plea filed in the HC, the makers reportedly questioned the CBFC’s “arbitrary, unreasonable, and unexplained” delay in processing the certification applications for its film – “Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi,” including its teaser, trailer and promotional song
The film said to be inspired by a book ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister’, purportedly based on Adityanath’s life, was scheduled for theatrical release on August 1. The makers also questioned the CBFC’s “erroneous, extraneous and baseless” demand for a No Objection Certificate from the CMO, saying there was no such requirement in law.
Adityanath vs Modi/Shah again?
The delay in issuance of the certificate, which is mandatory for a film’s release, has once again started speculations about differences between Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his second in command Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Seen as a key contender for the PM’s post, many believe that the roadblocks in the path of a film, expectedly eulogising Adityanath, may be because of this very reason.
Ideally CBFC should only be a film certification board, an autonomous body with no political appointees, but does it happen that way. After Leela Samson resigned as chairperson of the CBFC in 2015, citing governmental interference amid allegations of corruption, the government refuted charges of any interference in Censor Board’s functioning, asserting no role in the certification process.
However, when ‘Emergency,’ a film produced by BJP’s Mandi MP Kangna Ranaut, also ran into trouble with CBFC, it was said that apart from objections from the Sikh community, the BJP was also “unhappy” with the film.
Adityanath and PM aspirations
With 80 parliamentary seats in the state, UP voters have the power to make or break the central government. Since 1996 onwards, UP has been instrumental to BJP playing a dominant national role, catapulting the then Gujarat CM Modi to the centre with 72 seats. In 2024, however, it also gave PM Modi difficult moments amid rumours that all was not well between him and the UP Chief Minister
Observers say that Adityanath’s tenure as CM has not been an easy one. The BJP deployed two deputy chief ministers to keep him in “control” and everyday decisions like appointments of officers to the CMO were also controlled directly by the Centre.
Amid the rumours of differences between Adityanath and PM Modi ahead of the 2024 general elections, the talk in Lucknow circles was that Modi-Shah’ loyalists were running the show.
But whether it is the Kanwar Yatra, or the Mahakumbh in 2025, or the Ram Temple inauguration ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last year, or his bulldozer politics, Adityanath has managed to emerge as strong contender for the title of “Hindu Hridyasamrat”, said to be important factor for the Hindu votes in the north.
Whether there is any basis to the buzz that the film on Adityanath was being “deliberately blocked” to prevent him from laying a claim on the centre remains to be seen. But responding to a question about public sentiment favouring him as a future prime minister, Adityanath had told a news agency that he does not consider politics his full-time job.
“Look, I am the Chief Minister of the state, the party has put me here for the people of Uttar Pradesh and politics is not a full-time job for me. At present, we are working here but in reality, I am a Yogi,” he was quoted as saying.
