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Chennai, Feb. 3: Tamil Nadu today lifted the ban on Vishwaroopam and the film is expected to hit theatres on Friday after a fresh certificate from the censor board.
All district collectors revoked the prohibitory orders banning the movie following an agreement reached yesterday between Kamal Haasan, the film’s producer and director, and Muslim groups that had branded it “anti-Islam”.
When the movie was banned, most theatres had decided to show Mani Ratnam’s Kadal and Bejoy Nambiar’s David (in Tamil) that released on February 1.
Many theatres owners, anticipating that the ban would be lifted, had booked the two films only for the first week since they expected Vishwaroopam to take a bigger opening because of the controversy and positive response in neighbouring states.
“The anticipation for Vishwaroopam has increased ten-fold and since Kadal and David have met with a lukewarm response, most theatre owners are likely to screen Vishwaroopam after cutting down shows of Kadal and David,” said the owner of a theatre chain.
The Central Board of Film Certification has demanded an apology from Tamil Nadu advocate-general Navaneetha Krishnan and advocate Sankara Subbu, who represented the Muslim groups, for alleging in Madras High Court that Vishwaroopam had got its censor certificate using underhand means.
In a statement issued in Mumbai, the CBFC asserted that every action it has taken or the procedure it has followed for Vishwaroopam or any other film has been in accordance with the act and rules framed by Parliament.
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