Salman Khan supports Kamal Haasan

Jan 31, 2013 IANS

Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS) After many members from Indian film industry expressed their solidarity, Bollywood actor Salman Khan also opposed the ban on "Vishwaroopam" in Tamil Nadu and requested his and Kamal Haasan's fans to lend support to the film-maker.

"Hope each and every fan of his (Kamal Haasan) supports him like I am doing and want all my fans to fully support him. Bhool gaye kya 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' (Have you forgotten 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye')," Salman tweeted Thursday.

The 47-year-old added that the decision to watch a film lies with the people who buy tickets, not anyone else.

"Dekho yaar (Look buddy), it is a movie and there are only two kinds of movies - good or bad. Hit and flop. And (the) only people who (should) decide (that) are the ones who buy tickets", he added.

Salman says the audience must insist on watching a movie meant for entertainment.

"Go stand outside the cinema hall and insist on seeing the film. It is a movie dude... for entertainment! What law and order problem on a movie? Go there (cinemas), insist that you want to see it," he said.

On Jan 30, a Madras High Court bench chaired by Justice Dharma Rao reimposed the ban on the film and nullified the revocation of an earlier ban on the film by Justice K. Venkataraman on Jan 29.

The final hearing on the case is due Feb 6.

The Rs.95 crore espionage thriller was originally scheduled to release in Tamil and Telugu on Jan 25, but a day before the screenings, the Tamil Nadu government imposed a two-week ban on the film after some Muslim groups complained that some scenes in the film portrayed the community in a bad light.

Kamal Wednesday also agreed to cut a few scenes that were pointed out as controversial to him by his Muslim brothers.

"Vishwaroopam" was also initially banned in places such as Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Malaysia.

Written, produced and directed by Kamal, "Vishwaroopam" features him in the title role. Other members of the cast include Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur and Jaideep Ahlawat.

Its Hindi version "Vishwaroop" is slated to release Friday.

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