Ram Gopal Varma booked on obscenity charge by Hyderabad Police day before his film's online release

A day before the release of his controversial movie God, Sex and Truth featuring American adult film star Mia Malkova, Hyderabad police booked filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma on an obscenity complaint filed by a social activist.

A case under section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was lodged against Varma for 'publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form'.

Ram Gopal Varma. File Photo

A police office associated with the Central Crime Station (which registered the case) said the complainant cited some photographs allegedly posted by Varma on social media as being obscene.

The filmmaker was also booked under sections 506 and 509 of Indian Penal Code for allegedly making personal comments against the activist and others opposing the movie. He has been charged with insulting the modesty of a woman.

Police said they would take legal opinion and conduct investigations before taking further action in the case.

Meanwhile, women’s groups staged a protest in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, demanding a ban on the release of the movie online and the filmmaker's immediate arrest.

The activists of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), AP Mahila Samakhya and other groups raised slogans against Varma. They alleged that Varma is releasing the movie on web to avoid certification by authorities. They said the filmmaker is portraying women as sex objects and promoting pornography.

Varma has been facing strong reactions from women’s groups since he released the trailer of the movie. “I truly believe that there’s no location on earth which is more beautiful and more monumental than a woman’s body,” Varma had tweeted alongside a snapshot from God, Sex and Truth, focussing on Malkova’s bare abdomen.

The filmmaker says the video is about a “revolutionary sexual philosophy” as professed by Malkova and encapsulated by him.

In another related development, writer P Jaya Kumar on Thursday moved Hyderabad City Civil Court against Varma for allegedly violating copyright. The petitioner claimed that the filmmaker made God, Sex and Truth using his story. The court issued a notice to the filmmaker.