Actor-director Kamal Haasan was expected to fight the ban on his film 'Vishwaroopam' in the Supreme Court today, but he told this morning that he has deferred that decision.

1. "I am still hurt. But I am calm," Kamal Haasan said this morning in Chennai before flying to Mumbai for the release of the Hindi version of his 95-crore thriller, Vishwaroopam.
2. Several stars and directors are speaking on his behalf to the government in Tamil Nadu which imposed a two-week ban on the film on the grounds that it could cause communal tension.
3. Kamal Haasan wants to wait to see if a breakthrough is reached in those talks before he appeals to the Supreme Court to rescind the ban, which expires on Wednesday, February 6.
4. Yesterday, in a surprise development, Kamal Haasan agreed to edit out words and scenes that were identified as problematic by Muslim leaders who say that without those changes, the film reinforces negative stereotypes about Muslims.
5. Despite the compromise reached between them and Kamal Haasan, the government has been vehemently defending the ban .
6. The director, who says he has pledged his house and other properties to a money-lender to finance the 95-crore film, has spent the morning in Chennai with his lawyers. Fans landed up there with cheques and demand drafts because their idol had said he was on the verge of bankruptcy
7. He is expected to fly to Mumbai later. The Hindi version of Vishwaroopam is scheduled to release in Delhi and Mumbai tomorrow
8. The film's legal battle has stretched over several days. On Monday, a judge of the Madras High Court lifted the ban. The government appealed against that verdict and won its case in the High Court.
9. Last evening, the actor appeared on the terrace of his office in Chennai and urged hundreds of fans gathered there to stay calm. "I am struggling for justice," he said, "don't give in to anger."
10. Sources say that Kamal Haasan's supporters believe that the ban, so ardently advocated by the government, is not unhinged from politics. By backing Muslim protests, the ruling AIADMK is showing its support for a vote bank traditionally loyal to its rival DMK. And the television rights for Vishwaroopam were granted eventually to Vijay TV and not Jaya TV, the mouthpiece of the AIADMK.