Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday hit out at Kamal Haasan for not agreeing to submit early his movie "Vishwaroopam" to Muslim protesters.

She told the media that the entire controversy over the film could have been avoided had Kamal Haasan screened the multilingual thriller to representatives of 24 Muslim groups who objected to some portions.

She said Kamal Haasan, who has produced and directed the movie besides playing the lead role, cancelled a screening for them at the last moment.

Even the pre-release Jan 21 screening for the Muslim representatives was done at the urging of her government, Jayalalithaa said.

Muslim groups in Tamil Nadu protested against the movie, which revolves around an Al Qaeda plot and an Indian couple in the US, saying it maligned their community.

On the losses Kamal Haasan and his production house would incur due to the 15-day ban in Tamil Nadu, she said he was "a responsible adult" who took a calculated risk in pledging all his property against the movie.

It was his decision and the government was not responsible for that, she said.

She also ridiculed charges that she had acted against the movie because she had a grudge against Kamal Haasan and because the latter had implicitly batted for Finance Minister P. Chidambaram as India's prime minister.

"I have been in politics for more than 30 years to know that Kamal Haasan does not select the PM of this country...

"I have no personal grudge, no personal interest in banning the movie. There is no political vendetta."

Kamal Haasan, she pointed out, was not her political rival.

She said Kamal Haasan could have approached the government soon after the 15-day ban was issued in Tamil Nadu but instead went to court.

Agreeing that she had got a letter from the actor seeking time to meet her, Jayalalithaa said by that time he had gone to the court.



Here we are bringing you some of her quotes from the press meet:

"Mr Kamal Hassan is not my rival in any way. If I really wanted a ban on the film I could have banned it straight away...but we did not do that. That should prove it is not political vendetta."

"He is nearing 60, he is a responsible adult, what he has taken is a calculative gamble. If he has taken the risk to produce a mega budget movie and pledged his property, how can the government be held responsible for that?"

"We stopped the screening for tempers to cool so that the two parties could talk."

"Film's screening was banned in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka where Congress and BJP governments are in power. Or even in Puducherry or Singapore, where there is substantial Muslim population."

"After his return from the US, Hassan sought a meeting with me, but as he had by then already moved the Madras High Court, I could not have interfered in the sub judice case."

"The groups had organised protests in various places. There was every apprehension these protests could get violent. Intelligence inputs had been received about violence and the only way to release the film would be to provide police protection to all 500 theatres," she said.

"Had the filmmaker screened the movie for the Muslim leaders in the beginning itself, all this would not have happened," she said.

"If the leaders of the Muslim organisation and Kamal Haasan can work out an amicable agreement then the state government will do everything to facilitate that."

To sue Karunanidhi

Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said Thursday that Kamal Haasan's movie "Vishwaroopam" was banned in Tamil Nadu due to real fears of violent protests and that she had no grudge against the actor.

The chief minister also announced that she would file criminal cases against DMK leader M. Karunanidhi and sections of the media that she said had maligned her on the issue.

She denied speculation that Kamal Haasan's troubles began after he reportedly refused to sell the movie rights to Jaya TV, which supports her AIADMK party.

"This is a wild reckless charge against a constitutional authority. We will have to take legal action..."

She targeted Karunanidhi for alleging that she wrote a letter in the 1980s against Kamal Haasan to then chief minister M.G. Ramachandran or MGR.

Jayalalithaa said there was no need for her to write to MGR when she used to meet him almost daily.

"(This is) a wild fictitious story. We will be instituting legal proceedings against Karunanidhi and against all newspapers which published this charge."

The chief minister said initially Kamal Haasan was not ready to make even a single cut in "Vishwaroopam". He also delayed showing the movie to Muslim leaders. Had he done so, the situation would not have come to such a pass.

Kamal Haasan has written, produced and directed the movie and also features in the title role in "Vishwaroopam", which revolves around an Al Qaeda plot and an Indian couple in the US.

It has been made in Tamil and Telugu. The Hindi version, "Vishwaroop", is set for release Friday.
IANS