Thiruvananthapuram, Dec. 18 -- The Kerala government has decided to take a confrontational stand by proceeding with the screening of international films that were denied censor exemption by the union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B).
On December 11, the I&B Ministry initially denied censor exemption to all 187 films selected for the festival, citing failure to submit applications within the stipulated timeline.
Subsequently, the Ministry granted exemption to 150 films and later cleared 18 more as the festival began, leaving 19 films without approval when the event commenced. On February 16, the I&B Ministry cleared four additional films.
However, as the denials evolved into a political controversy, the state government deci...