Nine days ahead of the theatrical release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathan, the Delhi High Court on Monday directed Yash Raj Films to make some changes in the film for its OTT release. Pathaan, which also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, has already been cleared by the Central Board of Film License, but it has to be submitted again to the CBFC for re-certification before its premiere on Prime Video on April 25.
According to Bar & Bench, the Delhi High Court has asked the producers of Pathaan to provide Hindi subtitles, closed captioning as well as audio description for the OTT release of the film for the benefit of the visually and hearing impaired.
As Pathaan is just days away from its January 25 release, the court observed that directions to include audio description and other means of theatrical release cannot be accepted at this stage, but directions for the film’s release have been made. on Prime Video in April, asking the CBFC to consider re-clearing the same by March 10, once the producer gets the subtitles ready.
“Regarding the OTT release of Pathaan, the producer is directed to prepare the audio description, subtitles in Hindi and closed captioning and submit the same for CBFC approval. After the same submission, the CBFC will consider re-certifying the film along with Hindi subtitles, audio description and closed captions in Hindi,” the court ordered.
A member of a bench of Justice Pratiba Singh, while hearing a plea to make the film accessible to the visually and hearing impaired, Justice Pratiba Singh noted: access to entertainment for the hearing and visually impaired. Under section 42 of the RPWD Act 2016, the government is required to take measures to ensure that all content is available in accessible formats for persons with disabilities. In the context of movies, the most important thing is to take special measures for people with hearing and vision problems, because the experience of watching a movie in a movie theater cannot be denied to such people.”
The claim was brought by four individuals – a law student, two lawyers and a disability rights advocate – seeking to enforce various rights and accessibility requirements under the 2016 Act. Besides Yash Raj Films and OTT platform Prime Video, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have been added as respondents in the suit.
Patha marks Shah Rukh Khan’s return to lead roles, four years after his last appearance in Zero. The action-thriller is directed by Siddharth Anand and will be the first release of the year for the superstar, who also has Atlee’s action film Jawaan and Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki.
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