Ban on 'Vishwaroopam' lifted

Clearing the way for screening of Kamal Haasan's Tamil movie Vishwaroopam, the ban on it was lifted today, a day after the actor-director struck a compromise with Muslim groups to end the week long standoff.

In one fell swoop, District Collectors across the state revoked prohibitory orders under which the release was banned after Muslim outfits came out strongly against the mega budget movie, holding that some scenes in it hurt their sentiments.

Official sources said the prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of CrPc have been lifted.

As opposition by Muslim outfits erupted, government had imposed the ban, citing threat of violence with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa defending the government's action, stating it was not in a position to provide security across all 524 theatres where it was to be screened from January 25.

A government brokered meeting between Haasan and Muslim groups broke the logjam on Saturday, with the actor agreeing to some cuts, including muting some dialogues.

The ban that raised a storm had elements of drama as the 58-year-old actor spoke of his trauma of having pledged his house to make the film and even threatening self-imposed exile to look for a secular place outside Tamil Nadu or overseas.

After the truce, Haasan had offered to withdraw the petition challenging the two-week ban imposed on January 23.

While a single judge had allowed the release, a division bench had upheld the ban and reverted the issue to the former.

The multi-lingual film, made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, was originally slated for release on January 11.

The film hit a roadblock first when the tech-savvy actor decided to release the spy thriller on the DTH platform, evoking opposition from theatre owners, forcing him to put it on hold indefinitely.

The Tamil version of the movie is running smoothly in Kerala and Karnataka after minor hiccups and Vishwaroop in Hindi in the North.