Bangalore, April 12: Filmgoers in Karnataka eager to know why Kattappa killed Bahubali will have to tarry a while.

The release of Bahubali 2 - The Conclusion, the sequel to Bahubali - The Beginning, an epic fantasy, has hit a roadblock in the state, thanks to an old remark made by Tamil actor Sathyaraj who plays Kattappa.

In a provocative speech at a demonstration last year by the Tamil film industry in solidarity with Tamil farmers seeking water from Karnataka, Sathyaraj had urged Tamils to stand up for their rights and not be passive like a tree every dog would urinate on.

Among those who attended that meeting in Tamil Nadu were top stars like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Sharath Kumar.

That speech has now come back to haunt the sequel, which may not keep its date with Karnataka on April 28, the day the film is scheduled for release in the state.

Pro-Kannada activists have objected to the "dog" reference that they felt was about Karnataka residents opposing the release of Cauvery waters to its neighbour.

"We will not allow the movie to release anywhere in Karnataka without Sathyaraj apologising for his derogatory remarks about our people," said Vatal Nagaraj, a well-known pro-Kannada activist and former legislator.

"We have nothing against the movie, which is a work of art. But since Sathyaraj plays a major role, and he has yet to apologise, we have decided to stop the movie's release in Karnataka."

Several pro-Kannada organisations have rallied behind Nagaraj.

"No theatres will dare release it as we have our volunteers to keep a watch," Nagaraj added, cautioning theatre owners who might want to cash in on the mega-buck film.

Bahubali - The Beginning, which released in 2015, is about two cousins, Amarendra Bahubali and Bhallala Deva, who are in the race for the throne of the fictional Mahishmati kingdom in south India. Both were raised by the powerful queen Sivagami who wanted an able king as her physically challenged husband was unfit to rule.

After studying the cousins for years, she makes Bahubali the king and her own son, Bhallala Deva, the general. But the high-voltage fantasy drama, directed by S.S. Rajamouli, ends with slave commander-in-chief Kattappa saying he killed Bahubali, leaving viewers perplexed.

The sequel, which also stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati and Ramya Krishnan, explains the reason but viewers in Karnataka will have to wait to find out because of the controversy over Sathyaraj's comment.

This is not the first time that a comment related to the decades-old water dispute - that saw trucks and buses from Tamil Nadu being burnt in Bangalore last year - has cast a shadow on a film.

Back in 2008, even superstar Rajinikanth had to apologise for opposing Karnataka's stand against releasing water before his Tamil film, Kuselan, could hit the screens in the neighbouring state.

Industry sources said Bahubali - The Beginning, released originally in Telugu and Tamil and dubbed into Malayalam and Hindi, had raked in more than Rs 50 crore in just 20 days in Karnataka alone. Even Rajinikanth's Kabali didn't receive that kind of response in the state.

Across the country, the movie made around Rs 600 crore in just 90 days.

Sa Ra Govindu, the president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, supported the demand for an apology. "The distributors are planning to release the Bahubali sequel in more than 300 theatres in Karnataka. If Sathyaraj doesn't apologise, the producers and distributors would have to suffer massive losses. All that's needed is a sincere apology from him," he told this newspaper.

With Sathyaraj yet to say anything on the controversy, Govindu said the film chamber wouldn't come in the way of outfits that want the actor to apologise.

Praveen Shetty, who heads the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, a leading pro-Kannada group, said the producers of Bahubali could forget Karnataka if they don't get Sathyaraj to apologise.

"He must apologise if Bahubali is to be released in Karnataka," Shetty added.