Permission cannot be granted for shooting commercial films and television serials in wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, or tiger reserves, the Kerala High Court observed on a plea by Malayalam filmmaker Tharun Moorthy regarding his upcoming movie “Athimanoharam” starring Mohanlal.

The Division Bench of Justice Raja V. Vijayaraghavan and Justice K.V. Jayakumar noted that two locations mentioned in the director’s request for film shooting could be allowed from August 18 to 28, provided they paid the required fees and executed an agreement with the Forest and Wildlife department.

The petition sought directions to the Divisional Forest Officer, Ranni, and the Deputy Director, Periyar West Division, Peerumedu, to consider Mr. Moorthy’s requests. The Travancore Devaswom Board had granted permission to shoot, subject to prior permission from Forest officials.

After the petition was lodged, the Deputy Director, Peerumedu, had considered the request and said that the areas mentioned in the representations formed part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR), which was leased to the Devaswom Board to facilitate the Sabarimala pilgrimage.

Even though the petition was dismissed, the court noted that the petitioners were still free to challenge the Deputy Director’s decision to deny permission.