Bombay High Court allows release of Karan Johar's 'Kurbaan'

Mumbai, Nov 19 (IANS) The Bombay High Court Thursday declined to stay release of film "Kurbaan", due to be out Friday, but sought the responses of filmmaker Karan Johar and actors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor to a petition terming two of its songs "vulgar".

A division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice A. M. Khanvilkar slated the next hearing for Jan 14, 2010.

Petitioner Mohammed Ali demanded that the film's release be stayed or the film be released after deleting the two objectionable songs. The division bench declined both pleas.

Ali said he plans to move the same petition in the Supreme Court soon.

Advocate S. Kunjuraman, representing Ali, said the court took a serious note of the lyrics of the two songs and also sought the response of movie director Rensil D'Silva, and lyricists Irfan Siddiqui and Niranjan Iyengar.

Among other things, the petitioner contended that the two songs in the movie contained objectionable and misleading lyrics which portray Islam in a negative light.

"In one song ("Shukran Allah, Walhamdo Lillah..."), the two stars are having physical relations and the song is played with them expressing gratitude to Allah. This is wrong and misleading," Ali told IANS soon after emerging from the court.

In the other song ("Ali Maula.."), which is the name of the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed, the terrorist is invoking the name of and seeking Allah's help to carry out terror acts.

"This is not only wrong interpretation on the tenets of Islam, but it sends out a wrong message to the common masses," he pointed out.

Kunjuraman said that the petitioner had written to the Central Board of Film Censors last week demanding the deletion of the two songs with the objectionable lyrics, but the board did not take any measure.

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