Actor-director Kamal Hassan’s controversial film “Vishwaroopam” ran into trouble in Karnataka on Saturday, with the State police ordering temporary suspension of its screening following protests in Mysore and Bhadravthi.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Bipin Gopalkrishna said in the State capital that the police will not permit screening of the movie, at least till Monday, when the Madras High Court is expected to pass an order on the Tamil Nadu government’s ban on the screening.
The police order followed violence over the movie’s screening in Bhadravathi town during the day. Two shops were set afire by miscreants. Tension prevailed for over five hours after the movie’s screening in one of the theatres. The police had to use force to disperse two groups which engaged in a verbal duel over the screening.
Trouble started in the steel town, which has over 40,000 Tamilians, when Kamal Hassan fans gathered in large numbers, burst firecrackers, poured milk on cutouts of the actor and raised slogans in favour of the movie, before the first show around 10:30 am.
This did not go down well with some people in the area. The theatre is surrounded by
houses belonging to the people of a minority community. As the situation was on the verge of turning ugly, the police stepped in. The authorities also enforced prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC for two days. Educational institutions in the town have been asked to remain closed on Monday as a precautionary measure.
In Mysore, around 40 people on Friday night went on a rampage at the Balaji talkies. The theatre is located in a minority-dominated area on the outskirts of the city. Miscreants smashed a showcase and damaged a part of the screen during the intermission and decamped before the police arrived. The police have booked a case under Sections 143 (rioting) and 427 (damage to property) of the IPC against unidentified people.
Both police and theatre owners are not clear about the identity of the people behind the trouble in Mysore and Bhadravati. They suspect that a fringe group opposed to the depiction of the minority community in the movie could be behind the incidents.
Following the incident in Mysore, theatre owners in the City stopped screening of the movie. Apart from the Balaji, three other theatres—Rajkamal, Lido and DRC Cinema—- screened the movie on Friday.
The City police directed owners of the Urvashi theatre to suspend the screening after the morning show on Saturday, which led to a brief protest from movie goers.
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