Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has said that it is the fears of violent protest against the movie "Vishwaroopam" , is the main cause behind its ban in the state and she has ruled out any grudge against the actor Kamal Kassan. She has also announced that she would file criminal cases against DMK leader M. Karunanidhi and sections of the media that she said had maligned her on the issue.
Taking to the media on the issue, Jayalalithaa said, "I have no personal grudge, no personal interest in banning the movie." Even she knew nothing about the Rs.95 crore espionage thrillers until it became controversial, she added.
She said that it would have been impossible to provide police protection to all 524 cinemas in TN where the multilingual film was to be released after Muslims groups announced a wave of protests.
She said her government had the powers to ban a movie completely but it banned it only for 15 days so that tempers could cool down and both Kamal Haasan and Muslim groups could reach an agreement.
Defending her government's decision to ban the movie, she said that her government decision was not without basis, even the movie had also been also banned in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.
The chief minister said Muslim leaders had told her that they were ready to accept the movie now as Kamal Haasan had agreed to delete some portions they had found objectionable on religious grounds.
She said, "If the leaders of Muslim organisations and Kamal Haasan can sit together and work out an amicable agreement, the government will do everything possible to facilitate that ... and the deck will be cleared for screening the movie."
Jayalalithaa insisted that her critics were "totally unaware of the sheer logistics of administration and maintenance of law and order".
"There is no question of curbing the freedom of speech." she added.
She denied speculation that Kamal Haasan's troubles began after he reportedly refused to sell the movie rights to Jaya TV, which supports her AIADMK party.
"This is a wild reckless charge against a constitutional authority. We will have to take legal action," she said.
(With inputs from IANS)
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