The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) has threatened to ban the release of Kamal Haasan's Thug Life over the actor's controversial remark about the Kannada language. This happened during the audio launch of his movie in Chennai last week.
During the media interaction in Bengaluru on Friday, Sa Ra Govindu, representative of KFCC, threatened to ban the release of Kamal Haasan's Thug Life in Karnataka. They reiterated that they stand firm with Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and other Kannada organisations for their demands of halting the release of the film until the actor issues a pubic apology.
The KFCC representative said that Kamal Haasan has not issued an apology yet for hurting the sentiments of Kannada people during his promotional event in Chennai.
Narasimhalu, President, Karnataka Film Chamber said, "We cannot use the word 'ban' and we don't want to... Kamal Haasan has tried to justify what he said. There is pressure from pro-Kannada groups. We have to stand by our people. But ban is not something we want."
Kamal Haasan and his movie Thug Life came under the radar of controversy in Karnataka after the actor reportedly stated that "Kannada is born out of Tamil", during a promotional event in Chennai.
Following it, the protests were held near the INOX cinema hall in Karnataka's Belagavi against Kamal Haasan. The protests were organised by the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike organisation, who demanded the actor's apology over the issue.
On Wednesday, the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah criticised Kamal Haasan following his remark about the Kannada language, stating that he was not aware of the "long-standing" history of the language.
"Kannada has a long-standing history. Poor Kamal Haasan, he is unaware of it," the Karnataka CM said.
Congress MLA from Karnataka Rizwan Arshad expressed his disappointment over Haasan's remark, calling it unfortunate and questioning the necessity of such a debate at a time when national unity is paramount.
"What kind of a debate is this? The Kannada language has a history of thousands of years. Kannada and Tamil are ancient languages and part of our country's foundation. Is this debate necessary at a time when all of us have to be united? I did not expect Kamal Haasan to make such a statement. It is unfortunate," Arshad said.
Thug Life is directed by Mani Ratnam and stars Kamal Haasan, Trisha Krishnan, and Silambarasan TR in the lead roles.
(Inputs From ANI)
