HC nod to Kamal Haasan’s magnum opus

CHENNAI, MAY 29: Dasavatharam, actor Kamal Haasan’s so-called magnum opus, is all set to hit the screens after it cleared the legal hurdle on Thursday.
A High Court Bench here dismissed a petition filed by the International Sri Vaishnava Dharma Samrakshanna Society (SVDSS), represented by president Swamy Govinda Ramanuja Dasan, demanding change of movie title and deletion of certain scenes from the movie. Justices K Venkataraman and M Satyanarayana ruled that Dasavatharam was an ancient name without any intellectual property rights attached, and as such, nobody could object to it as the title of a movie. The court also refused to direct the Censor Board to delete certain portions, as the petitioners themselves have not watched the movie.
Based on the clippings shown in a private channel, the petitioner had contended that the movie, with its portrayal of clashes between Vaishnavites and Saivites, may lead to tensions between the believers of the two schools of thought.
However, the Bench refused to entertain the contention, stating, “The petitioner cannot demand deletion of scenes since they have not watched the film.” Some of the objections raised by the petitioner was an “imaginary assumption” observed the Bench, adding that some of the scenes were merely fiction stemming out of imagination.
Denying the allegation that the movie offended religious sentiments, the defence counsel appearing for producer ‘Oscar’ K Ravichandran and director K S Ravikumar maintained that the movie glorified the existence of God as the supreme power.
Express News Service
Posted online: Friday, May 30, 2008 at 2302 hrs