Disgrace! Vishwaroopam Ban Upheld

By SearchIndia.com on January 30, 201311 Comments

Despite Kamal Haasan’s craven surrender to the Muslim community by offering to delete scenes in Vishwaroopam they find objectionable, the actor was beaten down in the Madras High Court today.

A bench of the court overturned the order of the single judge and upheld the ban on screening Vishwaroopam in the state for two weeks.

Kamal Haasan now plans to take the battle to India’s Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.

The entire film industry in Tamil Nadu and across India must come together and protest this injustice to Kamal Haasan and Freedom of Expression.

Miracle Needed

At this stage, only a miracle can help Kamal Haasan recover the huge amount of money (Rs 95-crore) he has sunk into the film. It’s been nearly a week since the movie released in the U.S., Malaysia and some parts of India.

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11 Responses to "Disgrace! Vishwaroopam Ban Upheld"

sam January 30, 2013 at 7:05 am

Where are those idiots, Vijaykanth, Sarath Kumar and Ilaya thalapathi, Thalai, Simbu and rest of the cine artists. Why are they silent now?

Cowards – all of them. No one has guts to publicly support Kamal.

SearchIndia.com Responds:

Yes, they are all spineless weasels.
- venbas January 31, 2013 at 5:27 am
  
  All those actors and their fans are more interested in spewing $hit onscreen and trying to cripple sites like Searchindia
guruji January 30, 2013 at 9:23 am

KH should have gone ahead with the DTH release first.

He gave in to the demand of theaters, and agreed to release there first.

Just goes to show everyone that you can be bullied into submission.

Now every damn weasel will demand something out of it.

The other thing KH did wrong was to advertise / boast that he is expecting 350 crores out of it.

Now any stupid person with some clout will want a cut of it.

Just proves again, that he is a narcissist and partly deserves what he got.

SearchIndia.com Responds:

You write: The other thing KH did wrong was to advertise / boast that he is expecting 350 crores out of it.

Very true. Yes, I too saw that interview where Kamal mentioned his expectation of Rs 350 crore.

In India, if people know you have a penny 10 guys will want ‘their’ share. 🙁
Naveen January 30, 2013 at 12:58 pm

It is Kamal’s Vishwaroopam versus Jayalalitha’s Suyaroopam.

Jayalalitha has made a scumbag like Karunanidhi look gracious.

While Kamal has every right to say he expects 350Cr out of it I think it was never a smart move to get into that level of detail before the movie hits the theaters.

SearchIndia.com Responds:

If the film industry does not come out en masse in support of Kamal Haasan and help to resolve the crisis, what happened to Vishwaroopam will happen to their films tomorrow.

But the characteristic Indian trait is disunity.

So I have no hope there will be a meaningful clamor of industry support for Kamal Haasan beyond going to his house and shaking his hand and shaking their heads. 🙁

What has happened to Kamal Haasan is injustice of the highest order!
- Naveen January 30, 2013 at 1:33 pm
  
  I saw some Tweets and reports in NDTV that some Tamil actors are visiting Kamal at his residence. But to me it sounded more like they were going to a funeral only that the person is still alive.
  
  I still cannot fathom how in a state of so many high profile people not one could stand besides Kamal. Jayalalitha is not that powerful. Overall, this situaion makes a bankrupt(?) Kamal more powerful than a Power wielding Jayalalitha.
  
  I always knew that this has nothing to do with Muslim sentiments… it was a planned personal attack on Kamal with all the Givernment resources and power at Jayalalitha’s disposal.
  
  SearchIndia.com Responds:
  
  When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
  He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
  But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
  For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
  
  When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,
  He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can.
  But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail.
  For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
  
  When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
  They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws.
  ‘Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale.
  For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
  
  Man’s timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
  For the Woman that God gave him isn’t his to give away;
  But when hunter meets with husbands, each confirms the other’s tale—
  The female of the species is more deadly than the male.
  
  Man, a bear in most relations—worm and savage otherwise,—
  Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise.
  Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
  To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.
  
  Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
  To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
  Mirth obscene diverts his anger—Doubt and Pity oft perplex
  Him in dealing with an issue—to the scandal of The Sex!
  
  But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
  Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same;
  And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
  The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.
  
  She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
  May not deal in doubt or pity—must not swerve for fact or jest.
  These be purely male diversions—not in these her honour dwells—
  She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else.
  
  She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
  As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate.
  And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
  Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.
  
  She is wedded to convictions—in default of grosser ties;
  Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies!—
  He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild,
  Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.
  
  Unprovoked and awful charges—even so the she-bear fights,
  Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons—even so the cobra bites,
  Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw
  And the victim writhes in anguish—like the Jesuit with the squaw!
  
  So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
  With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
  Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
  To some God of Abstract Justice—which no woman understands.
  
  And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
  Must command but may not govern—shall enthral but not enslave him.
  And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
  That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.
  
  – Rudyard Kipling in the poem The Female of the Species (1911)
- shadowfax_arbit January 30, 2013 at 2:13 pm
  
  I don’t really understand how she is so indifferent to whatever agonies Kamal Haasan is facing!
  
  This is sheer monstrosity.
  
  Can’t agree more she has made a corrupt scumbag like Karunanidhi look gracious.
  
  SearchIndia.com Responds:
  
  You write: I don’t really understand how she is so indifferent to whatever agonies Kamal Haasan is facing!
  
  The depths of (Wo)Man’s cruelty to fellow humans cannot be plumbed!
  
  Unless there’s a strong protest from both the film industry and the masses, such injustice will continue and be the order of the day.
  
  Only massive protests can save the situation for Kamal Haasan.
  
  The need of the hour is not to shake your hands with Kamal and express your regrets but to shake your fists at the Tamil Nadu government for perpetrating such heinous crimes!
  
  By playing into the Tamil Nadu government’s hands, the small group of Muslims has done enormous damage to the entire community!
  
  The masses are too stupid to make a distinction between the small group of Muslims and the entire Muslim community and they will tar the entire community.
Naveen January 30, 2013 at 1:38 pm

How does the collections math work?
> Kamal has sold the movie to distributors across the world including the satellite rights and audio rights.
> Movie has had a rousing start at the BO everywhere and now it has even been released in Andhra and Karnataka.
> Let us assume that Hindi release happens as planned and does decently with all this free hype
> Let us assume that Malaysia, Qatar and Singapore release the movie this weekend.

Would he not make some money?? Enough to retain say one of his houses / properties?

Again, I have no clue how much he has at stake and how much he has sold… just curious…

SearchIndia.com Responds:

1. When a movie collapses, three groups suffer – Producers, Distributors and Exhibitors.

For instance, when that dolt Abhishek Bachchan’s Drona kissed the dust, Eros (Drona producer and distributor) took a severe hit forcing them to back off from Enthiran, which was then acquired by Sun Pictures.

Distributors take a hit because they’ve paid big money for the movie and can’t recover it from ticket sales.

Exhibitors suffer because crowds don’t walk into the halls and buy tickets, popcorn, soda etc.

* * For reasons that I’ve not understood, in the Indian film milieu producers too take a hit. I suspect Kamal’s collection of money from distributors will depend on how the movie fares at the box office.

2. Rousing start in U.S., Hyderabad, Kakinada, Malaysia, Qatar etc means nothing because the size of these pies is very small. They’re just icing on the box office collection cake.

The major market is Tamil Nadu. A Tamil film is made or broken in Tamil Nadu.

I’d estimate the non-Tamil Nadu market at no more than 20%-25% for Vishwaroopam / Vishwaroop.

3. North Indians have a contemptuous attitude toward most South Indian films.

I doubt Vishwaroop will resonate big time with Northies, all the publicity and its decent quality notwithstanding.

4. Given the delays, availability of pirated copies online and slow fading away of audience interest because many have purchased the ticket once (likely on the Black market/from scalpers) and have not recovered their money or lost the money (in the event they purchased it in Black).

5. Bottom line, Kamal Haasan will stand to lose big over this fiasco.

How much exactly he has lost/will lose is known only to Kamal, his pillar of support Gautami and Chandra Haasan.

Such blatant injustice can happen only in Incredible India.

Shameful chapter in Indian ‘democracy’ and cinema.
Naveen February 16, 2013 at 2:34 am

When Kamal stood in front of the camera and said he will go broke due to the ban it caused a nation wide uproar.

Every spoke about the freedom of speech and came in full support for Kamal.

When the victim is not someone as famous as Kamal then the treatment and response is much different…
http://www.sify.com/movies/its-now-ameer-in-aadhi-bhagavan-news-tamil-ncqkzfijfgg.html?ref=slideout
http://www.sify.com/movies/vana-yuddham-producer-is-broke-news-tamil-ncqkvSahaah.html

SearchIndia.com Responds:

1. Read both pieces.

Ridiculous, but I’m not surprised.

Not for nothing do we call the country Incredible India. 😉

2. On the Vana Yuddham issue, I found the following line in the Wiki profile:

Veerapan’s wife Muthulakshmi had filed a case against to ban the film as she feel that her husband has been portrayed in bad light

Now can anyone tell me how Veerappan can be portrayed in any other light except a bad light?

My memory is failing me but was Veerappan by any chance a saint, freedom fighter, social worker or Aam aadmi? 😉
- Vinith February 16, 2013 at 7:41 am
  
  A similar article on Vanayudham appeared in the newspapers today.
  
  One of my friends watched the movie yesterday and said it was a bit of a disappointment. If the news reports can be believed, the director made 32 cuts on Muthulakshmi’s demand, including the scene showing Veerapan’s marriage to her. Besides that, the court has asked to pay about 25L as compensation. I find this ridiculous.
  
  The director had met her before he even started working on the movie and obtained her permission (news reports again). I believe this entire episode was a stunt to make quick money. The film maker is a victim here.
  
  Newspaper reviews say it’s a much censored version that’s been released and it could have been a much better movie had the director been allowed full creative freedom because he seems to have done his homework and the scenes that made it were very accurate, like the ambush that killed several police and forest officials (in Palar I believe).
  
  No offense but I don’t think you should publish what I’m going to write below. ….
  
  SearchIndia.com Responds:
  
  Mrs.Veerappan is just cashing in her chips. 😉
boopalanj February 16, 2013 at 2:27 pm

Here is a song that jayalalitha will die to forget,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Lb1iwkOAA&sns=em

From the movie, anbu thangai.

This should have got banned first 😉

SearchIndia.com Responds:

MGR had good taste! 😉
- boopalanj February 16, 2013 at 2:48 pm
  
  He he.. Yes.. 😉
  
  A scene of This song, where she stands in a pleading posture towards kamalahaasan, was recently published in one of the magazines during the viswaroopam issue.