Kamal Haasan threatens to leave country - Page 15

Chennai: Actor Kamal Haasan will take his battle over the two-week ban on his big-budget film Vishwaroopam to the Supreme Court today. The ban was ordered by the Tamil Nadu government last week after Muslim groups said the movie's depiction of the community was offensive. Yesterday, the Madras High Court upheld that ban. The actors lawyers are likely to urge the Supreme Court today to take the case at the earliest.

After failing to get the ban on his film rescinded by the High Court, the actor appeared on the terrace of his office and told hundreds of fans gathered there to stay calm. "I am struggling for justice," he said, "don't give in to anger." (Watch: Am an artiste, am fed up, says Kamal Haasan)

Minutes before he lost his case in the court, Kamal Haasan said he had agreed to drop contentious scenes and words. "My Muslim family has reached out to me... we have settled amicably," he said.

The film was initially slated to release on January 25 but was banned for two-weeks by state government on January 23, forcing the actor to move the High Court. The High Court's ruling means it cannot release in the state till Wednesday, February 6.

At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Kamal Haasan suggested that the battle over Vishwaroopam is a crucible of India's secularism, and threatened to leave Tamil Nadu if the ban on the movie was not lifted. "If there is no secular state in India, I would go overseas," he said. The actor is likely to leave for Mumbai today; the Hindi version of his film is scheduled to release on Friday.

While his decision to re-edit the film a few hours later was a sharp deviation from that stand, those close to the superstar point out that the overwhelming financial pressure of a large-budget film may have forced the compromise. Kamal Haasan shared that his house and other properties have been pledged to a money-lender. His brother, Chandra, has said the movie has lost between 30 and 60 crores because it has not screened as scheduled in Tamil Nadu.(Timeline: How Kamal Haasan fought 'cultural terrorism')

Sources say that Kamal Haasan's supporters believe that the ban, so ardently advocated by the government, is not unhinged from politics. By backing Muslim protests, the ruling AIADMK is showing its support for a votebank traditionally loyal to its rival DMK. And the television rights for Vishwaroopam were granted eventually to Vijay TV and not Jaya TV, the mouthpiece of ruling AIADMK.