Kamal Haasan's brother talks to Muslim groups to solve Vishwaroopam crisis

Talks were held in Chennai today to break the deadlock over the release of Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam'.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had said yesterday she would broker peace between actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan and protesting Muslim groups.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Muslim organisations, Chandra Haasan, Haasan's brother, and the state Home Secretary. The Commissioner of Police, S George, was also present.

Breaking her silence on the state government's decision to ban the movie, Jayalalithaa yesterday offered to facilitate an amicable settlement if Haasan and Muslim groups agreed to come together.

"If Muslim organisations and Kamal Haasan are ready to sit down and work out an amicable agreement, if he agrees to delete certain portions that are objectionable, then decks would be cleared for screening the movie. The Tamil Nadu government will do that to facilitate such an amicable settlement," she had said.

Film personalities have welcomed Jayalalithaa's initiatives to end the crisis arising out of the ban on the movie, made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. It was earlier scheduled for release on January 25.

Haasan has ruled out moving the Supreme Court for now, saying he would wait for the Madras High Court's judgment next week while trying to find a solution through talks.

Meanwhile, the Hindi version of 'Vishwaroopam' opened to good response in the

Northern region today, with multiplex owners claiming the controversy surrounding the movie has generated more curiosity among the audience.

Titled 'Vishwaroop', the film saw an average occupancy of about 50 to 60 per cent across theatres in north India today without any untoward incident barring some protests in Lucknow.

"The film has generated quite a lot of hype and the controversy seems to have turned out to be a positive publicity here. The occupancy rates were about 60 to 70 per cent today across DT Cinemas and we expect it to go up to 100 per cent over the weekend," DT cinemas spokesperson Anant Verma told PTI.

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