The first Hindi film made in Chhattisgarh, ‘Janki Chapter 1,’ has run into trouble. The Censor Board has currently put a hold on the film’s release. Reportedly, the Censor Board has refused to issue a certificate due to the film’s title. Producer Mohit Sahu stated that he will now approach the Revising Committee. If the committee doesn’t approve, he plans to go to the High Court, but insists on releasing the film with the title ‘Janki’.
Following the Censor Board’s decision, producer Mohit Sahu posted a video on social media, stating, “The censor certificate for ‘Janki’ has been held up. I am currently in Mumbai. The Censor Board has refused to issue a certificate with the title ‘Janki,’ but I will release the film with this name.”
Furthermore, Mohit Sahu shared a poster of ‘Janki Chapter 1’ on social media, along with a lengthy note. He wrote, “It seems the Censor Board has become patriarchal. They are saying, ‘Remove the name ‘Janki,’ only then will we issue the certificate.’ Why should I kill my story? What wrong have I done by writing the story with the name ‘Janki’? What crime have I committed by naming the heroine ‘Janki’? I raised questions before the Censor Board officials, and the answer was to go to the Revising Committee. I said I would go there now. If ‘Janki’ doesn’t get justice there, I will go straight to the High Court.”
The trailer of ‘Janki’ was released on April 23rd in a grand ceremony at Shyam Talkies, Raipur. Mohit Sahu announced that the film would be released in Hindi across India on June 13th. The film stars Anikriti Chauhan as Janki and Dilesh Sahu as Raghu. Trailers and songs were already available on YouTube, and promotion of the film had been ongoing for the past two weeks.
Kausal Upadhyay, the director of ‘Janki Chapter 1,’ also commented on social media, stating, “Today, I understood that a better name than ‘Janki’ would be ‘Kaminey.’ Wow, Censor Board, wow…”
The film features Anikriti Chauhan, Dilesh Sahu, Jeet Sharma, Neeraj Uike, Nitin Gwala, Amit Goswami, Sumitra Sahu, Anunay Sharma, Deewana Patel, Mohit Joshi, Pappu Chandrakar, Tejaram Sahu, and Amar Das Lahre. The film is produced and has action design by Mohit Sahu, with Gajendra Dewangan, Ashish Kumar Goyal, and Ravi Mahawar as co-producers. Kausal Upadhyay has written the script and directed the film. Gaurang Trivedi is the editor, and Toshant Kumar and Monika Verma have provided the music. The film features vocals by Kailash Kher, Shaan, Javed Ali, Dev Negi, Nakash Aziz, and Monika Verma.