Refusing to grant Raajkamal Films International, producers of Kamal Haasan starrer Thug Life, relief on June 3, the Karnataka high court rebuked the actor-politician for refusing to apologise for his controversial remark about Kannada being born out of Tamil. The court said, it was ironical that he instead chose to “come here seeking protection” for his new film in the face of “circumstances created by you”.
“You may be Kamal Haasan or anybody — you or any citizen have no right to hurt the sentiments of the masses,” Justice M. Nagaprasanna said. He explained, “Three things people are very emotional about in my considered view — jala (water), nela (land) and bhasha (language)… You know, the division of this country was along linguistic lines. A public figure, in a public forum, makes a statement that this particular language is born of this language. No language can be born of any other language.”
The judge also questioned whether Kamal Haasan had the credentials to make the remark he did, or if it was based on any credible source. “Are you a historian? Are you a linguist? On what basis did you speak?” he asked.
The producers of Thug Life, which is due to hit the screens tomorrow (June 5), had filed a petition challenging the ban imposed by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) on the film’s release in Karnataka and sought police protection to go ahead with the planned screenings in the state.
The high court adjourned the hearing to June 10 and issued notices to the state and Central governments and the Cebtral Board of Film Certification.
“One apology would have solved everything. In law, we will consider (the petition). But look at the attitude. Why do you want the film to run in Karnataka? You apologise, then no problem. You want to earn some crores from Karnataka also,” said the judge. In a letter to KFCC president Narasimhalu, Kamal Haasan said, it “pains” him that his remarks during a promotional event for his film were “misunderstood and taken out of context”. The actor-producer-politician explained, “My words were intended only to convey that we are all one, and from the same family, and not to diminish Kannada in any way. There is no dispute or debate on the rich legacy of the Kannada language.”
