Tamil Nadu govt challenges HC order lifting the ban on 'Vishwaroopam'

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has challenged the Madras High Court's order of lifting the stay on Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam'. The case will come up before the first bench of the Madras High Court at 10.30 am on Wednesday.

In a relief to actor and director Kamal Haasan, the Madras High Court on Tuesday night lifted the stay on 'Vishwaroopam', overriding Tamil Nadu government's order of banning the film from theatres in Tamil Nadu. The ban itself was illegal because none of the orders were served in the court, said the two-page judgement.

The film was banned in the state on the insistance of some Muslim organisations which felt that it depicted the community in poor light. But Kamal Haasan got a late night relief from the Madras High Court on Tuesday after the court decided to put in abeyance the prohibitory orders issued by the Tamil Nadu government to delay the film's release.

But the interim relief may not be enough to persuade distributors. Rahul Bose, one of the actors in the film, said that the distributors may not want to risk releasing the film in such risky circumstances.

Earlier on Tuesday, the court had reserved judgement on the ban on the film which has come under fire from Muslim groups, who protested against the alleged portrayal of the community as terrorists. The court had on Monday asked Haasan to meet government officials in Tamil Nadu and look for a middle ground to resolve the row.

The court had on January 24 declined to grant any interim stay on the ban. The actor missed two deadlines for the film. The movie first ran into rough weather after some theatre owners resisted the tech-savvy actor's decision to premiere the movie, made in Hindi and Telugu as well, on DTH platform ahead of its screening in theatres on January 11. Haasan had held a special screening of the film for the Muslim outfit leaders, but failed to win their approval.

The Rs 95-crore film, which was due to release in the state on January 25, has been written, produced and directed by Kamal Haasan. Kamal Haasan landed in Chennai on Sunday night but refused to comment on the matter.