New Delhi: Observing that ‘mobs’ and ‘vigilante groups’ cannot be allowed to take over our streets, the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, directed the Karnataka government to allow the release of Kamal Haasan’s film Thug Life in the state.
The bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Manmohan also came down hard on the Karnataka High Court for seeking an apology from the actor.
The bench expressed concerns over the “extra-judicial ban” on the screening of the film, directed by Mani Ratnam, and said the rule of law demands that any film which has a Central Board of Film Certification certificate must be released and the state has to ensure its screening.
The Court was hearing a PIL filed by one Mahesh Reddy seeking directions to allow the screening of Thug Life, which was not released in Karnataka after certain groups issued threats against its screening following Haasan’s controversial comments on the origin of the Kannada language.
The veteran actor, who is also one of the producers of the film, had said that “Kannada was born out of Tamil”. This sparked off major protests in Karnataka.
The SC bench said if Haasan has said anything inconvenient, it cannot be taken as a gospel truth, and the enlightened people of Karnataka should have debated and said he was wrong.
The bench also observed that the Karnataka High Court had no business seeking an apology from Haasan. The actor had moved the High Court after the Karnataka government refused to allow screening of the film in the state. The High Court had said that a ‘single apology from Haasan could have resolved the situation’. The actor refused to apologise though.
The Supreme Court has now given the Karnataka government one day to apprise it about the release of the movie in the state.
Thug Life was released in cinema halls across the country on June 5. The Tamil movie brings together Haasan and Mani Ratnam after the 1987 blockbuster Nayakan.
