Court dismisses all cases against Dasavatharam

At last V Ravichandran has all the reasons to breath ease and smile. A special bench of Madras High Court comprising Judges M Satyanarayanan and K Venkatraman dismissed all the cases filed against the film Dasavatharam and condemned the petitioners for their complaints on the film on imaginary reasons.A few weeks before, International Institute of Sri Vaishnava Dharma Samrakshana had filed a case on Dasavatharam that the title and content of the film were against the holiness and sentiments of Hindus. Another pro-Hindu organisation Kalyana Subha Samithi also filed a petition that the title of the film denoted the 10 holy avatars of Sriman Narayana and the title is like a patented property of Hindu religion.
After viewing the petitions, the judges dismissed all and declared that no one could claim patent rights for the title Dasavatharam. They also pointed out that the petitioners filed the cases purely on imaginary basis without watching the original and full length film."Trailer is not the parameter to review or condemn a film and it will never show the full content of the same. The producer and director of the film have cleared that there are no scenes of Kamal stamping on the Om Mantra and Bagavad Gita in any of the scenes in the movie. The members of Censor Board are not illiterates to allow such scenes in a sensitive film like Dasavatharam", the judges told in their verdict.They also advised the producers and directors to make films without affecting any segment of the society."Cinema is the powerful media. All the producers and directors must be careful while announcing and making a film based on sensitive issues. Though they have entitled to enjoy the freedom of expression, they should always take care of the peace and feelings of others too. We hope the film Dasavatharam would not affect any one's sentiments and feelings through its content," is the highlight of the final verdict of the judges.
By: Settu ShankarFriday, May 30 2008