Kamal Haasan to join tripartite talks Saturday

Chennai, Feb 2 (IANS) Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan is likely to join the formal tripartite talks Saturday with Muslim groups in a bid to end the ban on his mega-budget multilingual film "Vishwaroopam".

Kamal may join the formal talks later Saturday evening here, after the formal tripartite talks, which were scheduled Friday, were called off as the actor was in Mumbai.

"Apparently the Muslim organisations wanted Kamal to be present in the formal talks where they are likely to reach an amicable agreement," a government source told IANS.

Muslim leaders had met Tamil filmmaker Ameer Sultan and Chandra Haasan, brother of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan and his partner in production company Raj Kamal Films International, Jan 31.

"We've submitted letters to the government requesting it to oversee the talks between Raj Kamal Films International and (Muslim) leaders," Chandra Haasan said on Thursday.

The preliminary talks between both parties on Friday were moderated by Tamil Nadu Home Secretary R. Rajagopal.

Both sides agreed to meet after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said her government would help Kamal Haasan release the film if he reaches a pact with the protesters.

The Rs.95 crore espionage thriller was set for release in Tamil and Telugu Jan 25, but a day earlier the Tamil Nadu government imposed a two-week ban on it fearing protests by Muslim groups.

The film`s Hindi version, "Vishwaroop", released Feb 1 peacefully across the country.