The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the "extra-judicial ban" on the screening of Kamal Haasan’s latest Tamil feature film, Thug Life, over the actor’s controversial remarks about the origin of Kannada language.
A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manmohan said rule of law demands that any film which has a CBFC certificate must be released and the state has to ensure its screening.
“It can't be that at the fear of burning down the cinemas, that the film can't be shown. People may not watch the film. That is a different matter. We are not passing any order that people must watch the film. But the film must be released," Justice Manmohan said.
The apex court criticised the groups which threatened to stall the film’s release over the actor’s allegedly contentious remarks: “Kannada was born from Tamil.”
"We can't allow mobs and vigilante groups to take over the streets. The rule of law must prevail. We can't allow this to happen. If somebody has made a statement, counter it with a statement. Somebody has made some writing, counter it with some writing. This is proxy..." Justice Bhuyan told the counsel representing Karnataka.
The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Mahesh Reddy seeking directions to allow the screening of Thug Life, which was not released in Karnataka following threats issued by certain groups against the film’s release in the state.
The bench said that people of Karnataka should have debated the veracity of Haasan’s remarks instead of forcefully deterring the screening of the Mani Ratnam directorial. The bench ordered the transfer of the petition in the Karnataka High Court to the Supreme Court. The matter will be heard on June 19.
Released theatrically on June 5, Thug Life stars Kamal Haasan as a gangster who takes a young boy under his wing and raises him in the underworld. As the years pass, the boy grows into a formidable figure, played by Silambarasan TR. However, cracks begin to appear in their bond amid a power struggle.
Mani Ratnam’s regular collaborator, A.R. Rahman, has composed the music for Thug Life, with Ravi K Chandran behind the camera and Sreekar Prasad handling editing. The cast also includes Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Ashok Selvan, Sanya Malhotra, Nasser, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Joju George. The action choreography is by the acclaimed Anbariv duo.
According to industry data-tracking platform Sacnilk, the film has so far earned Rs 46.84 crore nett in India.