Madras High Court likely to decide on ban on Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam' tonight

New Delhi: The hearing of arguments in actor-director Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam' case is over and the Madras High Court reserved its order for 8:00 PM on Tuesday. The court on Monday had asked Haasan to meet govt officials in Tamil Nadu and look for a middle ground to resolve the row.

The arguments were over after 6 PM and the judge reserved the order. The verdict was expected in a few hours. CS Raman, Haasan's lawyer said the judge heard the arguments and indicated that he will announce the verdict by 8-8:30 pm on Tuesday.

The Rs 95-crore film has been written, produced and directed by Kamal Haasan. It is yet to release in the state after protests by Muslim groups. Kamal Haasan landed in Chennai on Sunday night but refused to comment on the matter.

'Viswaroopam' was banned last week after Muslim groups protested over the alleged portrayal of the community as terrorists, and a high court judge viewed the film over the weekend. 'Viswaroopam' was scheduled to be released on January 25.

Meanwhile the controversial spy thriller was finally playing in Karnataka under tight police security.

"We are showing the film under police security. We have four shows for today. The response has been good. And since police are patrolling, people are walking in fearlessly," an official of Urvashi Cinemas told IANS.

Some other cinemas playing the movie include Innovative Multiplex, Rockline cinemas, Gopalan cinemas, Vision cinemas and Manasa Digital cinemas.

The film has released in close to 40 theatres in the state, including in over 15 screens in Bangalore.

"Police gave us a go-ahead this morning. Most theatres have included an extra show in the evening to attract as many as possible to the cinemas," said HD Gangaraju, the distributor of the film. With additional information from IANS

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