The Kerala High Court on Monday disposed of a legal petition seeking directions to grant filming permission for an upcoming movie starring actor Mohanlal, following statements from forest authorities that commercial movie shoots are strictly prohibited inside protected wildlife areas.
A division bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K V Jayakumar closed the plea filed by film director Tharun Moorthi, who had approached the court requesting expedited decisions from local forest authorities regarding his application to film his movie, Athimanoharam, at Pamba and Sannidhanam.
Conflicting Positions From Forest Authorities
The Deputy Director of the Periyar Tiger Reserve informed the court that permission for commercial feature films or television programs cannot be granted within tiger reserves, national parks, or wildlife sanctuaries under existing judicial and government directives.
The official explained that although the specific locations at Pamba and Sannidhanam have been diverted or leased to the Travancore Devaswom Board to facilitate the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage, the fundamental legal status of the land as sanctuary forest remains unchanged.
In contrast, the Divisional Forest Officer of Ranni submitted that shooting could be allowed at specific requested sites between August 18 and August 28, provided the filmmakers paid the required charges and signed a formal agreement with the Forest and Wildlife Department.
Government Affirms Ban On Commercial Filming
In a separate development, Kerala Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan stated that state policy prohibits the shooting of mainstream commercial movies at the Sabarimala temple complex.
Muraleedharan noted that while he had not been officially briefed on the situation regarding Tharun Moorthi’s film and had only learned about the matter through media reports, government policy strictly limits filming permissions at the shrine to devotional or mythological productions directly focused on Lord Ayyappa. He reiterated that general commercial films are not permitted to shoot within temple precincts.
