Vishnuvardhan fans force postponement of his 200th film

Bangalore, Feb 11 (IANS) Annoyed over the lack of pre-release publicity for Dr. Vishnuvardhan's 200th film 'Aaptha Rakshaka', hundreds of agitated fans of the late Kannada actor forced the producer to postpone its release by a week - to Feb 19.

'Aaptha Rakshaka', which is the Kannada film industry's most awaited release, will release in more than 100 cinemas.

The dates of the overseas release of the film will be decided later, says the film's producer Krishna Prajwal.

Vishnuvardhan's death on Dec 30 last year had shocked the entire state and the Karnataka government ordered a state funeral for the actor.

The fans of the Kannada film industry's legendary actor were visibly angry that the producer was releasing the film without making arrangements for its pre-release indoor, outdoor and media publicity.

They charged the producer with taking advantage of the sympathy wave for the actor and releasing the film just a day after the film got censored.

The fans sat on a dharna in front of the office of Basha, the distributor of the film, and wanted the producer to postpone the film's release. Some of the fans even went to the office of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and demanded the intervention of the president to stall the release of the film on Feb 12.

Finally, the fans were able to get an assurance from Krishna Prajwal, the producer of the film, that the film will be released a week later - on Feb 19. He also assured that all necessary arrangements will be made to give wide publicity to the film in the media and other forms of promotion.

The producer was giving advertisements in some newspapers that the film would be released shortly without announcing the release date. The censor board officials had seen the film on the afternoon of Feb 10. The sources said the censor board had suggested a few cuts in the film. The film has finally been given a U/A certificate.