Filmmaker Vetri Maaran, known for some of the notable films like Visaranai, Vada Chennai and Asuran, has approached the Madras High Court to challenge the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for denial of a censor certificate for his upcoming Tamil movie, Manushi, reported The Hindu. Starring Andrea Jeremiah, the film has been produced by Vetri Maaran under his banner, Grassroot Film Company, and directed by Gopi Nainar.
The film is about a custodial interrogation of a woman, after being falsely suspected of terrorism. The trailer for the film was released last year in April.
The petition stated said CBFC, in September 2024, denied to issue a censor certificate for Manushi citing political reasons. It claimed that the content of the film showed the state in bad light and it had confused leftist communism with mainstream communism.
In his plea, the filmmaker also stated that he was neither given an opportunity to share his views before the denial of the censor certificate nor he was informed about the opinions of the censor committee members.
Vetri Maaran had submitted a representation to the CBFC on March 29, 2025, where he had requested to form an expert committee comprising human rights activists to re-examine the movie.
He also expressed his willingness to edit any scenes if they did not fall within the limits of freedom of speech and expression.
Apart from Andrea, Manushi also stars Nasser, Tamizh, Hakkim Shah, and Balaji Sakthivel. Music of the film has been composed by the legendary Ilaiyaraaja.
