Vishwaroopam to be released in TN on February 7

Actor- director kamal Haasan on Monday announced the release of his controversial film Vishwaroopam in Tamil Nadu on February 7. The announcement comes a day after the ban on the film under section 144 of CrPr was lifted by district collectors across the state following a compromise reached on Saturday between Haasan and Muslim outfits who were up in arm against it, claiming the film offended their sentiments.

          The film is to be released next Thursday February 7 crossing all hurdles,” the 58-year-old filmmaker said in a statement shortly after both he and the government withdrew their petitions before the madras high Court .

          Haasan thanked chief minister Jayalalithaa for helping him, apparently referring to government brokered talks with protesting Muslim groups despite a “delay in justice, “ that helped him to end the week long standoff.

          The compromise with Muslim group preceded an emotional outpouring by Haasan, who had spoken of having to pledge his house in the making of 100 Crore multi-lingual spy thriller that was released in other states, barring his own.

          Haasan said he was moved by the gesture of his fans that had sent money after his revelation that he could lose almost all of his property, pledged towards making the film. Haasan also thanked his colleagues from Tamil Cinema Industry and their counterpart in other languages of Indian Cinema and also the media, whom he said viewed his right as theirs

          The film made in Tamil , Telgu and Hindi, was originally slated for release on January  11, but has been lurching from one crisis to another.

          The first trouble came from theatre owners who opposed the tech-savvy actor’s move to release it first on DTH platform, forcing him to indefinitely put it on hold.

          Then came the 15 day ban by the state government, forcing Haasan to take the battle to the court. He got interim relief from a single judge who allowed its release but a division bench overturned it and reverted the matter to a single judge.

          Finally a breakthrough came after Jayalalithaa offered to facilitate a resolution to the crisis if Haasan and the Muslim outfits could arrive at an amicable agreement.

          Meanwhile, the centre set up a judicial committee on Monday to review the cinematograph Act to make it more robust and ensure that movies do not get stuck after their clearance by the Film Certification Board.

          The 8-member Committee, headed by the retired Chief Justice of Delhi high court Kukul Mudal, also include film star Sharmila Tagore and noted poet and MP Javed Aktar.

          The committee was set up by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry against the backdrop of Vishwaroopam being banned by the Jayalalithaa-Led Tamil Nadu government despite the censor board’s clearance.

          Information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari had last week said that the act needed to be revisited to remove uncertainity with regard to movie ven after it had been cleared byt he central board of film certification.

          Tewari had said that the committee will look into whether there is need to make the “Statutory architecture or the Regulatory framework” of the act more robust to ensure that the CBFC decision is implemented by the states.

          As per the seventh schedule of the constitution, the centre has power to certify a film to be either fit or unfit for exhibition.

          “The central government exercises those powers through the central boardof film certification. Once CBFC comes to a certain conclusion, then it is expected that the state government would implement that decision as this exclusively falls under the centre’s jurisdiction “he had said.