MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has refused to stay the release of the film ‘Madras Cafe’ in Tamil Nadu and has refused to entertain the petition to put a ban on the film.

The petition was filed by an advocate B Stalin who claimed that the movie had “objectionable contents” and it shows LTTE leader, Prabhakaran as well as former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi in poor light. He also stated that the release of ‘Madras Cafe’ in Tamil Nadu could create law and order problems in the state. The counsel of the petitioner, W Peter Ramesh Kumar, pleaded for a ban on the film.

To counter this argument, senior counsel TR Rajagopalan, who appeared on the behalf of the filmmakers contended that the story of ‘Madras Cafe’ is fictional. He also pointed out that the Hindi version of the film had been cleared by the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC). The Tamil version, though, is still pending for review, although it has been sent to the CBFC for a review. The filmmakers’ side also believed that the clearance for the Tamil version would be attained as the Hindi version had already been cleared for release on 23 August.

Upon hearing this, the bench comprising justices S Rajeswaran and T Mathivanan observed that the court was not inclined to halt the release of ‘Madras Cafe’. The judges also said that the filmmakers have the freedom to release the Tamil version of the film as soon as the CBFC reviews and clears it.

The bench, however, did issue a direction to the director general of police, Tamil Nadu, and the director and producer of ‘Madras Cafe’ to file a counter affidavit in the court in a detailed manner. The next hearing of the case has been shifted to 3 September.

‘Madras Cafe’, which stars John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri, is directed by ‘Vicky Donor’-helmer Shoojit Sircar. It’ll release on 23 August.