The film ‘Faraaz’ is based on the 2016 Dhaka café terrorist attack. The mothers of two girls who had visited the café have sought a stay on the film, claiming right to privacy with respect to their deceased daughters. Quoting a couplet by noted poet Ahmed Faraaz, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the parties to consider resolving their issues while hearing a plea challenging a single-judge order that dismissed restraint on the release of Hansal Mehta’s “Faraaz”. The film is based on the 2016 terrorist attack at a cafe in Dhaka in which 29 people were killed including two girls, whose mothers are now the petitioners. The matter was heard by a division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh, approached by the two mothers seeking a stay on the release of the movie, claiming right to privacy with respect to their deceased daughters. The mothers had challenged the single-judge order of October last year that refused to grant interim relief against the release of the movie. Quoting a couplet of poet Faraaz — Shikva-e-zulmat-e-shab se to kahīñ behtar thā apne hisse kī koī shama jalāte jaate; is kī vo jaane use pās-e-vafā thā ki na thā tum ‘farāz’ apnī taraf se to nibhāte jaate [Rather than complaining about the darkness of night, you could have lit lamps; Only they know whether they were honest in love or not, at least you, Faraz, should have been true] — Justice Mridul said, “Please look at the couplet, it is relevant for what it says. If you are naming the movie Faraaz, then you should know what Ahmed Faraaz stood for. If you wish to be sensitive about the sentiments of a mother, then talk to her.” The court asked the parties to sit together and resolve the disputes, further asking the makers to consider the mothers viewing the film. Justice Mridul told advocate Sheyl Trehan appearing for the makers of the film that the mothers viewing the movie will not “in any manner affect the outcome of the proceedings. It will only alleviate their fears that their daughters are not depicted in a bad manner”. Trehan thereafter said that her clients are open to the suggestion to sit with the mothers and try to find a solution. Appearing for the mothers, senior advocate Akhil Sibal argued that makers of the film approached the issue with complete insensitivity without taking the consent of the mothers and also denied showing them the film. “The single judge holds that since the girls are now deceased, there can be no right to privacy in relation to their rights. This is a wrong proposition. The issue is whether the family members and the mothers, who are alive, have the right to privacy in relation to their daughters. So, here the added issue is the manner in which they lost their lives, which is by a very violent means,” Sibal argued. The bench remarked that all of this must be already in public domain, unfortunate though it may be. To this, Sibal said, “We know of the nature of the medium. They (mothers) want to be left alone and don’t want their privacy to be invaded. They are private persons who are grieving”, adding that “their wounds are being reopened”. “My only concern is that we have filed an affidavit (by a viewer who watched the film when it was screened in London last year) which shows that parents are reflected, their names are thinly disguised, images of the girls are also shown which is contrary to what the single judge was told,” Sibal said, countering the makers’ submission before the single judge that no reference to the deceased girls was made in the movie. “We don’t know if the law permits us to injunct. All we are asking you to do is try and resolve this,” the HC said, further telling the makers that “they can’t profit out of someone else’s misery” and listed the matter for hearing on January 2.