Home minister supports Kamal Haasan

Jan 30, 2013 IANS

New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Wednesday came out in support of filmmaker Kamal Haasan, saying all have "freedom of expression".

"We are a free society. There is freedom of expression. There is liberty for artists. We have a constitution," Shinde said, in response to a question on the ban on Kamal's movie "Vishwaroopam".

"We will see. We will inquire into what has happened," he said.

"Vishwaroopam" was due to release Jan 25, but the Tamil Nadu government banned it following objections from certain Muslim groups, who claimed the film portrayed their community in a bad light. Apart from Tamil Nadu, the film was banned in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The Madras High Court bench chaired by Justice K. Venkataraman Tuesday passed an interim order in favour of the film and kept the orders issued by the district collector in abeyance.

However, on Wednesday a two-judge bench of the Madras High Court set aside the single judge order and re-imposed the ban on "Vishwaroopam".

As a result, theatres cannot screen the film anywhere in Tamil Nadu.

Kamal said he would go to the Supreme Court against the order.

The film was also banned in Malaysia and Sri Lanka after running in theatres for two days.

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Vishwaroop