Bombay High Court dismisses PIL seeking change in Raja Shivaji’s title

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought a stay on the theatrical release of the Marathi-Hindi bilingual film Raja Shivaji, clearing the way for the movie’s scheduled release on May 1, 2026. The petition had objected to the omission of the honorific “Chhatrapati” from the film’s title and claimed it was disrespectful to the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The plea was filed by NGO Sree Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Foundation, which argued that leaving out the title “Chhatrapati” hurt the sentiments of followers of the iconic Maratha ruler. The petitioner requested the court to direct the makers to rename the film Chhatrapati Raja Shivaji and also sought restrictions on the release, screening, and public exhibition of the movie until changes were made. A division bench led by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad rejected the petition, observing that the matter did not involve any real public cause. The court also n...

The Exorcist review – Friedkin’s head-swivelling horror is still diabolically inspired

The 50th anniversary extended director’s cut of the 1973 tale of teenage possession still shocks

William Friedkin’s deadly serious contemporary horror, adapted for the screen from the bestseller by novelist William Peter Blatty, is back now in cinemas for its 50-year anniversary in the extended director’s cut. This is the film that whispered its evil into the ears of US audiences traumatised by political and generational upheaval. It is also the great ancestor of the entire horror genre: a 132-minute jump scare – with horribly malign slow sections – taking place in upper-middle class America rather than some exotic central European locale. (I have in the past suggested that it brought supernatural fear into the American suburbs; well, I should admit that Georgetown in DC is hardly a suburb, in fact the point is that it is very near the political centre of the free world.)

Ellen Burstyn plays movie actor Chris MacNeil, a single mother ordinarily resident in California but currently renting a handsome townhouse in Washington as she shoots a film called Crash Course; she is playing a liberal academic at odds with the student body who are violently possessed with revolutionary ideas. Her director is a louche and boozy Brit called Burke Dennings, whose persona is maybe inspired a bit by Ken Russell, who is played by veteran Irish stage actor Jack MacGowran and whose death shortly after shooting helped create the “cursed film” aura that surrounds The Exorcist.

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