Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie producers accepted ‘A’ certificate after refusing to make further cuts, CBFC tells Madras High Court

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Wednesday (August 20, 2025) told the Madras High Court that Sun TV Network Limited had refused to make the necessary cuts required for the issuance of a U/A certificate to Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie, and instead accepted an ‘A’ certificate, thereby making it impermissible for viewers below 18 years of age to watch the movie in cinema theatres.

Appearing before Justice T.V. Thamilselvi, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) AR.L. Sundaresan said: “At the time of hearing, it was proposed to them that if you want U/A certificate, some more cuts have to be made. They made an endorsement saying that we don’t want any cuts, but give us the ‘A’ certificate. They accepted the ‘A’ certificate and cannot turn a volte face now.”

The submissions were made during the hearing of a civil miscellaneous appeal filed by the production firm to quash the CBFC’s August 4, 2005, proceedings, through which an ‘A’ certificate was issued to the movie, and issue a consequent direction to the board to issue a U/A certificate. The ASG said, there was absolutely no urgency in hearing the appeal since the movie was released on August 14.

Opposing the request made on behalf of the production firm for an early hearing of their appeal filed before the High Court only on Tuesday (August 20, 2025), the ASG said, there was no dire urgency, such as a threat of eviction or demolition, in the present case, which would require the court to hear it on priority. He requested the court to grant time till August 25, 2025, for the CBFC to file a counter affidavit.

Listing out the sequence of events, he said, the production firm had applied for CBFC certification on July 28, 2025, and received the ‘A’ certificate on August 4, 2025. About 10 days later, the appellant chose to release the movie in theatres and a week after that, it had suddenly approached the High Court demanding U/A certification. It cannot insist upon an urgent hearing after such a long delay, the ASG said.

After hearing both sides, the judge said she would grant sufficient time for the CBFC to file its counter affidavit because nearly a week had gone past since the release of the movie.

In its appeal, the production firm said, it had produced Coolie to celebrate Mr. Rajinikanth’s completion of 50 years in the film industry, and the movie had become a “mega blockbuster” owing to its pan-India star-cast comprising Nagarjuna Akkineni, Aamir Khan, and others. However, the actor’s wide fan base, cutting across all age groups, were unable to watch the movie because of the ‘A’ certification, it complained.