Kamal Hassan's Vishwaroopam banned in TN

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_kamal-hassan-s-vishwaroopam-banned-in-tn_1792007

Kamal Hassan's Vishwaroopam banned in TN Published: Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013, 22:34 IST  Place: Chennai | Agency: PTI Actor-director Kamal Hassan. The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday banned the screening of Kamal Hassan's "Vishwaroopam" following strong protests from various Muslim organisations over alleged depiction of their community in a negative light. Official sources said the state government has asked the respective district collectors to invoke necessary legal provisions to maintain law and order. The ban came hours after the Muslim groups petitioned the government, seeking a ban. A group of 20-odd organisations under a common banner submitted a memorandum to home secretary R Rajagopal to press for their demand, a day after taking up the matter with city police. MH Jawahirullah, MLA and president of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, told reporters that the movie "targets Muslims and their beliefs". Mohammed Haneefa, coordinator of Federation of Islamic Movements and Political Parties, said the community would not accept such portrayal even if certain scenes are deleted. "We intend to register our apprehensions that release of the film with (even) deleted scenes or changes will affect the social harmony and all-round peace in the state," he said. The move comes days after Haasan, who directs and stars in the movie, held a special show for them. The big budget movie has been made in Tamil, Hindi and Telegu. Haasan has already clarified that Muslims are not shown in a objectionable manner in the film but that has failed to soothe frayed tempers of the community, which blames him of having a history of doing so in earlier films like Hey Ram and Unnai Pol Oruvan, the latter a remake of Hindi film A Wednesday. Hassan had played the role of Naseruddin Shah in the original. Hasan has been facing lot of hurdles with his latest movie, which has been made on a huge budget. His decision to show it on a DTH platform ahead of its theatrical release was faced with strong protests by screen-owners recently. He was forced to drop his plans to have a DTH premiere first after the protests but moved the Competition Commission of India against Tamil Nadu theatre owners for allegedly restricting the release.

====================

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Kamal-Haasan-moves-HC-to-get-two-week-ban-lifted-on-Vishwaroopam/articleshow/18162061.cms

Kamal Haasan moves HC to get two-week ban lifted on 'Vishwaroopam'

By Karthick S, TNN | Jan 24, 2013, 11.16 AM IST

READ MORE Vishwaroopam|Kamal Haasan|Muslim Groups|Tamil Muslim Groups

 

Kamal Haasan moves HC to get two-week ban lifted on 'Vishwaroopam'

RELATED

·         'Vishwaroopam' not against Muslims: Kamal Haasan

·         Kamal Haasan reacts to Vishwaroopam ban

·         Kamal Haasan speaks on theatre owners' protest

·         After Kamal Haasan, Manoj Bajpayee advocates DTH

·         Kamal Haasan lodges complaint with police

·         Kamal Haasan moves HC to get two-week ban lifted on 'Vishwaroopam'

·         Tamil Nadu bans screening of 'Vishwaroopam' for 2 weeks

Actor Kamal Haasan lashes out at Tamil Muslim groups protesting against his filmVishwaroopam, which prompted Tamil Nadu government to prevent its screening in theatres for two weeks

Actor-director Kamal Haasan on Thursday decided to seek legal recourse to get his filmVishwaroopam released on January 25 as scheduled. Buckling under pressure from some Muslim organisations opposed to the film saying it showed the community in a poor light, the state government decided on Wednesday evening to prohibit its screening in theatres across the state. The government cited law and order problems if the film was released in theatres in the state on the same day when Milad un-Nabi was celebrated.

Lashing out at Muslim groups protesting against his film, the actor said, despite having always worked for communal amity, he was now being ruthlessly used as a vehicle by small groups seeking a political profile.

"Any neutral and patriotic Muslim will surely feel pride on seeing my film. It was designed for that purpose," said the actor in a brief statement. Kamal Haasan, who is in the U.S. for preparations for the film's overseas release on Friday, said, "Now I will rely on law and logic to come to our support. This kind of cultural terrorism will have to stop."

While he was touched by the voices in support for him and his film, he was appalled at how it was construed to be against "my Muslim brothers", said the actor. "I am not only hurt by these accusations of denigrating a community but my sensibilities are truly insulted," he said. Sources said the actor moved the Madras high court this morning and the case is likely to he taken up shortly.

"My statements in favour of the Muslim community have marked me as a sympathizer. I have always gone beyond the call of my duty as an actor to voice my opinion in favour of what was humane and civil. I have been part of an organization called Harmony India which worked for Hindu Muslim amity," Haasan said in his statement.

Thanking those who "rose to the occasion" and to his support on the Internet, the actor said, "Icon bashing is a great way to be noticed when you are not one yourself. It is happening again and again."

=====================

 

http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/patriotic-muslim-would-feel-pride-on-seeing-vishwaroopam-kamal-hassan-600425.html

Patriotic Muslims would feel pride on seeing Vishwaroopam: Hassan

Jan 24, 2013

·         CCI to probe Kamal Haasan's complaint against TN theatre owners

·         TN bans screening of Vishwaroopam after protests by Muslim groups

·         Tamil Nadu govt bans Vishwaroopam for 15 days

After the release of his latest film was banned following protests by groups representing the Muslim community, Tamil actor-filmmaker Kamal Hassan said he was 'appalled' by the fact that Viswaroopam is being construed to be against his 'Muslim brothers'.

In the statement issued by the actor on his Facebook page, he said he felt 'insulted' and 'hurt' by such accusations and claimed he had gone beyond the call of duty to voice his opinion in favour of anything "humane and civil" .

"I have ruthlessly been used as a vehicle by small groups who seek a political profile. Icon bashing is a great way to get noticed when you are not one yourself," he said.

Firstpost

"A netural and patriotic Muslim would surely feel pride on seeing my film. It was designed for that purpose,"  the actor said in the statement.

Hassan said he would rely on law and logic to come to his aid and said such "cultural terrorism" should stop. (Read the full text of his statementhere)

The Tamil Nadu government banned the screening of Hassan's Vishwaroopam following strong protests from various organisations representing the Muslim community, who were upset over the depiction of the community in a negative light.

Hassan has already clarified that Muslims are not shown in a objectionable manner in the film but that has failed to soothe frayed tempers of the community, which blames him of having a history of offending them in earlier films like Hey Ram and Unnai Pol Oruvan, the latter a remake of Hindi hit A Wednesday. Hassan had played the role which was played by  Naseruddin Shah in the original.

Hassan has been faced a lot of hurdles with his latest movie, which has been made on a huge budget. His decision to show it on a DTH platform ahead of its theatrical release was faced with strong protests by theatre owners recently.

The actor was forced to drop his plans to have a DTH premiere prior to the release in theatres but moved the Competition Commission of India against Tamil Nadu theatre owners for allegedly restricting the release.

With inputs from Agencies