HC postpones order on Vishwaroopam, asks Hasaan, govt to talk

The Madras High Court has postponed its order on the release of Kamal Hasaan’s film Vishwaroopam in Tamil Nadu until Tuesday. The verdict was due to be announced today. While postponing the verdict, the court had also said that Kamal Hasaan would have to meet government officials and find a way out of the crisis. CNN-IBN reported that the court had added that it was “worried about unity of nation and law and order situation”. However Hasaan is likely to challenge the prohibitory orders served on them. The film was initially banned for more than two weeks by the Tamil Nadu government, after 25 Muslim organisations opposed the film, saying that it portrayed the community in bad light. Kamal Hassan has challenged the ban by the state government on the basis that since the movie was cleared by the censor board, the state government could not ban it. The ban was imposed by the state government on 23 January 2013. On 25 January, declining to stay the ban imposed by the Tamil Nadu government on the screening of Vishwaroopam, the Madras High Court restricted the film’s release till 28 January. A judge was supposed to see the movie on 26 January and decide on its fate. [caption id=“attachment_603952” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Firstpost[/caption] When the Muslim organisations had objected to the movie, the 58-year-old superstar organised a special screening for them to allay their fears. However, the organisations hardened their stance after watching the movie, alleging that the community was being shown in a bad light. Reviewers of the film have refuted the claims of the Muslim organisations and stated that there is nothing in the film that shows the Muslim community in a negative way. Earlier, the film got into trouble when Kamal announced that he would premiere it first on DTH and then take it to the theatres. But when distributors objected, he had to revise his plans. Now the Tamil and Telugu versions will be aired on DTH a week after the release in theatres. Made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, Vishwaroopam, which deals about the adversities of war, is produced and directed by Kamal Haasan who also stars in it. With inputs from agencies