Actor-director Kamal Haasan has agreed to run seven scenes that Muslim groups had found objectionable in his movie Vishwaroopam without audio. This paves the way for the movie, which was banned for two weeks by the government, to be finally released in Tamil Nadu, its biggest market. The compromise deal came after a six-hour meeting on Saturday between Mr Haasan, government officials, and representatives of Muslim groups in Chennai.
Emerging from the meeting, Mr Haasan said, "I will let you know the date of the release soon," and thanked Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and the home secretary for facilitating the meeting. The chief minister had mooted conciliatory negotiations on Thursday.
Mr Haasan and his elder brother Chandra Haasan, who is also the co-producer of the movie, met with 13 representatives of various Muslim organisations in Chennai on Saturday. Sources say the protestors wanted 15 scenes in all to be audio edited. After tough negotiations, which were mediated by Home Secretary R Rajagopal, Mr Haasan agreed to edit seven scenes.
Mr Haasan said, "We will take back our petition and hope that the ban on the film would be lifted."
It will take some time though before the movie can be screened in the state. For starters, the state government will need to formally lift section 144, which it imposed in all 31 districts of the state along with the movie's ban last month. District collectors will have to be notified that the movie has been cleared for screening.
Mr Chandra Haasan told NDTV that the process of audio-editing and finalising the revised version of the film would take about six hours, after which digital reprints would be ready. But, the movie will now have to compete for screen time with two other big weekend releases - Mani Ratnam's Kadal and actor Vikram's David. Both are running to packed houses and have advance bookings for the next three days.
Mr Haasan has refused to reveal which portions of the movie will be edited. He said that a list identifying the audio edits would be sent to the censor board, which would formally declare them.
The Rs. 95-crore blockbuster, which has been cleared by the censor board, first ran into trouble in Tamil Nadu after some groups alleged that it portrayed Muslims in poor light. The state government put its release on hold for two weeks on January 23 citing law and order concerns. The order was upheld by the Madras High Court. Soon protests against the movie spread to neighbouring Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala and screenings of the movie were affected.
Meanwhile, the movie's Hindi version, Vishwaroop has been well-received in north India, barring some minor protests in Lucknow.
Vishwaroopam ban: Muslim groups end protest, Haasan to cut 7 scenes
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Chennai: Ending a week-long drama, Kamal Haasan's controversial Tamil film Vishwaroopam is finally poised for release in Tamil Nadu with some cuts after the actor and Muslim groups opposed to it reached a settlement during the state-government brokered talks here today.
Emerging after the marathon talks lasting six hours in the presence of Home Secretary R Rajagopal at the Secretariat, Haasan said they have agreed to remove certain audio portions and hoped the government would revoke the ban imposed in the wake of protests by some Muslim outfits which considered the film offensive to their religion.
Kamal Haasan addresses the media after the talks. Firstpost.
"We will immediately arrange to announce the date of release after consultations, including with technical team," the actor who produced the mega-budget Rs 100 crore film told reporters ending nearly two-month long uncertainty marked by twists and turns over its release.
Haasan said they would withdraw their petition in the Madras High Court challenging the two-week ban and expressed hope that the government would revoke its action that drew nation-wide criticism for stifling freedom of expression.
Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam representative M H Jawahirullah, MLA, said Haasan has agreed for some cuts in the film, portions of which Muslims had deemed to be offensive.
The filmmaker has agreed to drop seven scenes from the film that the Muslim groups had problems with and have agreed to muting some other scenes. "We will put something else in the place of those scenes," Haasan said while addressing the media.
"The outcome of the meeting is fruitful," he said as the tri-partite meeting came after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa offered to facilitate it to pave the way for the release of the film though she had strongly justified the ban.
The multi-lingual film, originally slated for release on January 11, has been released and running smoothly in other states including Kerala with a 25 per cent Muslim population, and Andhra and Karnataka. Its Hindi version Vishwaroop hit theatres in north India yesterday which, according to Haasan,
had evoked 'fantastic' response.
Haasan, who made a brief statement and refused to take questions, thanked Jayalalithaa for facilitating the solution to the issue which sparked a major controversy.
"In the talks with my Muslim brothers, I heard their grievances and explained technical problems. The censor board would be informed," he said on the mutually accepted cuts.
The talks were to be held yesterday but did not materialise as the Muslim organisations insisted on the presence of Haasan who was in Mumbai for the release of the film's Hindi version.
A spy thriller set in the US and Afghanistan with the plot centered around terror, the film hit the first roadblock after tech-savvy actor's faceoff with exhibitors over his insistence on releasing it on Direct-to-Home platform a day ahead of the theatre release, forcing him to put it off indefinitely.
Another hurdle came when Muslim outfits expressed apprehensions over the content of the film and sought a preview for them, which the actor obliged but failed to win their nod leading to the government's ban on grounds of law and order problems.
Haasan took the battle to the court challenging the ban and got a relief with a single judge allowing its release, but it was short-lived as a division bench on an appeal by the government struck it down.
The case is coming up on February 6 for hearing before the single judge to whom the division bench reverted the matter. Anguished and hurt, a "fed up" Haasan threatened 'self-exile' to move to a 'secular place' in the country excluding Tamil Nadu, or overseas as done by late painter M F Hussain following opposition by right wing groups to his nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses.
As Haasan spoke of 'cultural terrorism' and poured out his heart explaining pledging of his entire property to make the film, support flowed for him from the film industry in Tamil Nadu and Bollywood as also the Centre which questioned the state government's ban after the censor board's clearance.
PTI
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