Gujarat High Court has ordered a stay on the release of Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan’s debut film Maharaj
The debut film of Junaid Khan, son of actor Aamir Khan, has faced a roadblock just hours before it was set to release on Netflix. Maharaj, directed by Siddharth P Malhotra, will not be releasing on June 14 (Friday) as scheduled after the Gujarat High Court ordered a stay on its release on Thursday. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad had appealed to the court demanding a ban on the film saying it hurts their religious sentiments.
As per an ETimes report that a hearing of VHP’s petition took place in Ahmedabad on Thursday following which the Gujara High Court instructed Yash Raj Films, the film’s producers, and Netflix, the platform streaming it, to hold public screening of the film till June 18. Whether or not this stay order will be lifted by June 18 will only be clear in the next hearing.
While Yash Raj Films and Netflix have not commented on the matter, the streaming platform informed that the embargo on the film’s review has also been extended from June 14 afternoon ‘given the ongoing proceedings’. The communication said a revised embargo date will be communicated shortly, which implies that there is still uncertainty on the new release date of the film.
Maharaj is based on the true story around the Maharaj Libel Case of 1862 in which Jadunathji Brijratanji Maharaj of the Pushtimarg sect had filed a case of defamation on publisher Nanabhai Rustomji Ranina and journalist Karsandas Mulji. In his editorial for newspaper Satyaprakash, Mulji had alleged that Jadunathji had sexual liaisons with women followers and that men were expected to show their devotion by offering their wives for sex with the religious leaders. The court ruled in favour of the defendants saying that the journalist ‘was only doing his duty as a journalist of exposing the misdeeds of the religious leader’.
Maharaj stars Junaid Khan as Karsan and Jaideep Ahlawat as Jadunath Maharaj with Shalini Pandey and Sharvari in supporting roles. Produced by Aditya Chopra under YRF Entertainment, the film is set to release with no promotions and not even a teaser or trailer. Netflix has only released a poster of the film prior to the release.
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