Now, Hyderabad stops screening of Viswaroopam
26 Jan 2013 5:49 AM IST
The Andhra Pradesh government Friday stopped the release of Kamal Haasan's film Viswaroopam in Hyderabad after some Muslims organisations complained that the movie had hurt religious sentiments of the community.
Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy directed police to stop the screening till 28 Jan after some Muslim leaders called on her and demanded a ban on it.
Following this, Hyderabad police commissioner asked cinema distributors not to screen the movie at theatres in the city.
Cyberabad police commissioner, covering areas around Hyderabad, also directed theatres not to show the movie.
Officials said the orders were issued in view of the demands by Muslim organisations. Also, there were fears of law and order problems on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi being celebrated Friday. It was not immediately clear if the movie would be released in the rest of the state.
A day earlier, the Madras High Court declined to stay Tamil Nadu government's order suspending the release of the film.
The court asked the filmmaker to postpone the release till 28 Jan so that it could view the same 26 Jan.
The movie in Tamil and Telugu was scheduled for release Friday; the Hindi version, titled Vishwaroop, is set to hit the screens Feb 1.
Vishwaroopam is produced and directed by Kamal Haasan, who has also acted in it.
Meanwhile Vishwaroopam opened to an overwhelming response in Kerala, but after the first screening, the film’s run was stopped in several theatres following protest from Muslim groups. Trade insiders say it is a clean movie.
‘The first screening of the film was at 11 am in approximately 82 screens in Kerala. But the film had to be banned in several cinemas after the first screening. Theatres closer to Tamil Nadu-Kerala border had to stop screening since Muslim outfits intervened,’ Arvind Nambiar, a distributor,said. .
‘It’s a clean film and is not targeted against any group or community. People should watch and decide for themselves whether it has any scenes that hurt the sentiments of any community,’ he added. The shows were disrupted in places like Palakkad, Ettumanoor and some other towns of Kerala.
‘There was no buzz around the release of the film as most of the cinemas decided to screen the film at the last minute, which was this morning. Since it released in smaller sections such as B and C, there were no problems initially, but later on the situation aggravated,’ Nambiar added.
The Tamil and Telugu versions of Vishwaroopam, which deals with the adversities of war, were scheduled to release Friday, but the Tamil Nadu government Wednesday imposed curbs on it following protests from Muslim groups.
A day later, Kamal challenged the ban by the state government in the Madras High Court. In his plea, he contended that the movie was cleared by the censor board and the state government could not ban it.
Fate of Vishwaroopam hangs in a balance as no proper decision has been passed regarding its release. The actor-director slammed the verdict to ban the film and called it cultural terrorism.
RAJINIKANTH URGES MUSLIM GROUPS TO HELP IN RELEASE
Even as the Muslim groups are gathering support across the globe against the movie Vishwaroopam, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth has come out in support of Kamal Haasan who has acted, produced and directed the troubled movie.
Expressing his sadness at the developments against Kamal’s movie, Rajinikanth appealed to the Muslim groups to give up their demand for the ban on Vishwaroopam.
‘I request my Muslim brothers to sit with Kamal Haasan, discuss and release the film without hampering the storyline. He is no ordinary artiste but an extraordinary one who can take Tamil cinema to all new levels,’ the super star said in a statement.
‘Kamal and I have been friends for over 40 years and I know personally for a fact that he wouldn’t hurt the sentiments of anybody let alone Muslims,’ he said and added he is upset at the hardship Kamal underwent in investing around Rs.100 crore in producing the film.
According to Rajinikanth, the pre-release screening of Vishwaroopam to Muslim organisations shows his love and regard for them.
‘He should be respected for the fact that he screened the film to Islamic leaders before its theatrical release,’ said Rajini.
Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy directed police to stop the screening till 28 Jan after some Muslim leaders called on her and demanded a ban on it.
Following this, Hyderabad police commissioner asked cinema distributors not to screen the movie at theatres in the city.
Cyberabad police commissioner, covering areas around Hyderabad, also directed theatres not to show the movie.
Officials said the orders were issued in view of the demands by Muslim organisations. Also, there were fears of law and order problems on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi being celebrated Friday. It was not immediately clear if the movie would be released in the rest of the state.
A day earlier, the Madras High Court declined to stay Tamil Nadu government's order suspending the release of the film.
The court asked the filmmaker to postpone the release till 28 Jan so that it could view the same 26 Jan.
The movie in Tamil and Telugu was scheduled for release Friday; the Hindi version, titled Vishwaroop, is set to hit the screens Feb 1.
Vishwaroopam is produced and directed by Kamal Haasan, who has also acted in it.
Meanwhile Vishwaroopam opened to an overwhelming response in Kerala, but after the first screening, the film’s run was stopped in several theatres following protest from Muslim groups. Trade insiders say it is a clean movie.
‘The first screening of the film was at 11 am in approximately 82 screens in Kerala. But the film had to be banned in several cinemas after the first screening. Theatres closer to Tamil Nadu-Kerala border had to stop screening since Muslim outfits intervened,’ Arvind Nambiar, a distributor,said. .
‘It’s a clean film and is not targeted against any group or community. People should watch and decide for themselves whether it has any scenes that hurt the sentiments of any community,’ he added. The shows were disrupted in places like Palakkad, Ettumanoor and some other towns of Kerala.
‘There was no buzz around the release of the film as most of the cinemas decided to screen the film at the last minute, which was this morning. Since it released in smaller sections such as B and C, there were no problems initially, but later on the situation aggravated,’ Nambiar added.
The Tamil and Telugu versions of Vishwaroopam, which deals with the adversities of war, were scheduled to release Friday, but the Tamil Nadu government Wednesday imposed curbs on it following protests from Muslim groups.
A day later, Kamal challenged the ban by the state government in the Madras High Court. In his plea, he contended that the movie was cleared by the censor board and the state government could not ban it.
Fate of Vishwaroopam hangs in a balance as no proper decision has been passed regarding its release. The actor-director slammed the verdict to ban the film and called it cultural terrorism.
RAJINIKANTH URGES MUSLIM GROUPS TO HELP IN RELEASE
Even as the Muslim groups are gathering support across the globe against the movie Vishwaroopam, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth has come out in support of Kamal Haasan who has acted, produced and directed the troubled movie.
Expressing his sadness at the developments against Kamal’s movie, Rajinikanth appealed to the Muslim groups to give up their demand for the ban on Vishwaroopam.
‘I request my Muslim brothers to sit with Kamal Haasan, discuss and release the film without hampering the storyline. He is no ordinary artiste but an extraordinary one who can take Tamil cinema to all new levels,’ the super star said in a statement.
‘Kamal and I have been friends for over 40 years and I know personally for a fact that he wouldn’t hurt the sentiments of anybody let alone Muslims,’ he said and added he is upset at the hardship Kamal underwent in investing around Rs.100 crore in producing the film.
According to Rajinikanth, the pre-release screening of Vishwaroopam to Muslim organisations shows his love and regard for them.
‘He should be respected for the fact that he screened the film to Islamic leaders before its theatrical release,’ said Rajini.
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