Today, the Madras High Court dismissed the appeal filed by Sun Pictures against the grant of an A certificate to Rajinikanth’s Coolie, making it clear that the film can’t be watched by those below 18 years of age in theatres. Justice T.V. Thamilsevi rejected the petition made by the production house seeking a U/A certificate under Section 5 of the Copyright Act of 1957.
Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan, representing the CBFC, said that the production house was well informed about the cuts that were needed to issue a U/A certificate. He further raised a point that the Rajini starrer was given an A certificate since it contained intense threats, gruesome killings, smoking, and drinking scenes.
Since Sun Pictures did not agree to delete the above-mentioned scenes, CBFC went ahead and issued an ‘Adults Only’ certificate. Advocate J Ravindran, representing Sun Pictures, argued that Tamil films will usually have considerable fight sequences and added that the team had already followed CBFC’s instructions by removing objectionable language and blurring alcohol references.
He also pointed out that Coolie does not glorify violence and compared it to intense action films like KGF, which got a U/A rating. However, after hearing both sides, the High Court dismissed Coolie team’s plea.