‘Faraaz’: Delhi HC refuses to stay film’s release, to hit theaters tomorrow

The Delhi High Court has refused to stay the release of Hansal Mehta's Faraaz, which is slated to hit theaters on Friday and is said to be based on the 2016 Dhaka terror attack.

The court on Thursday made it clear that the makers will strictly stick to the statement that the film is inspired by the attack and the elements contained in it are purely fiction. The court heard a lawsuit filed by family members of the victims of the terrorist attack. The mothers of the two victims of the Holey Artisan terror attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh, objected to the release of the film on February 3, citing invasion of privacy.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh granted time to the appellants' counsel to obtain further instructions in the matter and listed it for hearing on February 22. The court observed that the counsel for the filmmakers had categorically stated that the pictures or images relating to the petitioners' daughters do not appear in the film. When counsel for the appellants sought to direct the court to the filmmakers to shorten the disclaimer, the Division Bench said it fully agreed with the single-judge bench's view on the lengthy disclaimer. “You want some editorial control over the film. We're sorry, we can't help you," it said, adding, "We see nothing unsubstantiated about this statement. A lawyer for the filmmakers said the film is scheduled to be released on Friday, prints have been distributed and tickets have been sold.

The panel was hearing an appeal by two women against a single judge's decision to deny the film a screening. Before the single judge, the two women sought to restrict the release of the film on the grounds that it could portray their daughters in a "bad light", which would not only make them relive their trauma but also violate the deceased's right to privacy. and cause defamation. Their lawyer told the court that the filmmakers refused to show the film to family members of the two victims and, contrary to their stance before the single judge, the film showed images of their deceased daughters when it was screened in London.

In October last year, a single-judge bench dismissed the women's plea seeking a temporary stay on the film's release. The judge observed that the deceased's right to privacy did not inherit from their mothers and the film's "disclaimer" prima facie took care of their concerns. Seeking a temporary stay on the film's release, the petitioners said there was a reasonable apprehension that the film was made to show Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain as the "protagonist or something of the attack" and such portrayal would be completely false.

The filmmakers said that the incident was widely covered by the world's media and material was available in the public domain that revealed intricate details of the attack, including the identities of the victims, and that the film is a work of fiction that depicts the attack with utmost sensitivity.