Hyderabad, April 13 -- There was a Mahatma before Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was given that honorific by Ravindranath Tagore in 1915. Jyotirao Phule, also known as Jyotiba Phule, was bestowed with that at a public meeting in Pune in 1888 and is a revered icon of Maharashtra. While Gandhi led a relentless fight for freedom, Phule fought the orthodoxy that riddled society, which deprived girls of education and women of their dignity.

A Mahatma before Mahatma

Now, a biopic of that worthy person, titled 'Phule' co-written and directed by Anant Mahadevan, which was due to be released on April 11, has been put off by at least two weeks to cool a controversy centered around two things: one, some changes that the film certification board sought...