Now that Jayalalithaa has offered help, why should I go to SC: Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan on Thursday thanked Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa for 'coming forward' on the Vishwaroopamcontroversy.

I am grateful to her, said Haasan on the chief minister's statement.

Now that the CM has offered help, why should I go to Supreme Court, Haasan said.

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Facing all-round criticism for the ban on Kamal Haasan'sVishwaroopam (read review: Inoffensive Vishwaroopam is one helluva entertainer), Jayalalithaa today strongly defended the action, citing threats of violence but said her government would facilitate an amicable settlement if both the actor and Muslim groups come together.

Her intervention was immediately welcomed by the Tamil film fraternity, amid reports of back channel efforts to pave the way to release the Rs00 crore movie.

Breaking her silence a week after the ban exploded into a national controversy, she said it was based on Intelligence inputs of likely violence and to maintain law and order.

Jayalalithaa said she has no "personal grudge" against Hassan or "personal interest" in the ban, a day after the actor threatened to take self-imposed exile in a secular place in the country, excluding Tamil Nadu, or overseas.

She said the threat to law and order was "very real" and many Muslim groups had announced a series of agitations and the primary objective of the government was to maintain peace and tranquillity. "We relied on Intelligence inputs..."

"As chief minister of Tamil Nadu, my first and foremost priority is maintenance of law and order and to ensure public peace in which people can carry on with their daily lives and work," she said, citing inadequate manpower to provide security at 524 theatres where the film was to be screened.

"How is it practically possible for the state government to provide protection to 524 theatres and maintain law and order when we do not have adequate manpower," she asked, pointing out that 31,440 police personnel would have been required for deployment in all the theatres in three shifts.

Finding fault with Haasan, she said government had made a request to him to show the movie to a few representatives of the Muslim organisations. "Had he done it, the problem would have been avoided. But he avoided showing the movie."

"If Muslim organisations and Kamal Haasan are ready to sit down and work out an amicable agreement, if he agrees to delete certain portions that are objectionable, then the decks would be cleared for screening of the movie, then Tamil Nadu government will do that to facilitate such an amicable settlement."

With Jayalalithaa coming out to state her position after what she called the "hysteria" generated over the ban, efforts to end the logjam by film personalities gained momentum.

Haasan's brother Chandra Haasan, co-producer of the spy thriller, said, "Whatever government says, we will do accordingly. Without government support, the release of the movie is not possible".

"We are prepared to go for talks with the 23 or 24 Muslim organisations directly or through their coordinators. We are very confident that a satisfactory solution will be arrived at," he said, hoping government would ensure its smooth release and settle the "troubling issue".

Jayalalithaa also trashed as "wild and reckless" allegations that the ban was imposed because Haasan refused to give TV rights to Jaya TV.

"Jaya TV is a channel which supports AIADMK. Jaya TV does not belong to me. I am not in any way associated with its administration. I have nothing to do with Jaya TV. I do not hold shares (in it)", she said.

She said government would have to take legal action against those who levelled the charges against a responsible constitutional authority. DMK chief M Karunanidhi had cited reports suggesting a TV channel close to AIADMK wanted to buy the film for a song, but that the actor had refused.

Jayalalithaa was also dismissive of the charge that she bore a grudge against Haasan for his remark at a recent function that "dhoti clad Tamilian" should become Prime Minister, an apparent reference to P Chidambaram.

"Why should I take offence to such statements? Kamal Haasan has freedom to air his views. If he wanted a dhoti clad person to become prime minister, that is his own view. Kamal Haasan does not select the prime minister..."

On Haasan's statement that he had pledged his entire property to make the film and he would go bankrupt, Jayalalithaa said he had taken "a calculated risk, a calculated gamble".

"If he has taken a decision to produce a movie with a mega budget running into hundreds of crores and has pledged all his property for the same, it is a conscious decision he took. So how can the government be held responsible, accountable for that," she asked.

Haasan had on Tuesday secured interim relief from a single judge who had allowed its release, but his joy was cut short after a division bench set it aside. The matter will now come up for hearing on Wednesday.

The film, made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, had courted controversy not only because of opposition by Muslim groups who considered certain scenes offensive to their community, but also because of the tech-savvy actor's decision to release it on a DTH platform, prior to its release in theatres.