VISITOR COLUMN

Now that all the tension and the dust has settled, Kamal Hassan’s most ambitious project to date, Viswaroopam was finally released in Tamil Nadu. The movie has received positive reviews and has attained high critical acclaim from all movie critics worldwide. There is so much joy and satisfaction among Kamal Hassan fans that they are keen to watch the movie over and over again just to help Kamal Hassan repay his property debts.

 

I hereby write this article to express my sincere and humble gratitude to all parties that were involved in helping with the release of this wonderful movie. This movie was perceived to have created both religious and political controversy and it looked like the Tamil version of the movie was not going to be released at all. Special thanks goes to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Madame Jayalalitha for helping with maintaining law and order and mediating the tough and seemingly endless negotiations between Kamal Hassan and the respected Muslim Organisations. It was also nice to see actors and actresses from the various film fraternities such as Bollywood and Tollywood voicing their opinions and supporting Kamal Hassan. All reputable bodies in the Tamil film industry such as Producers council, directors’ council and Nadigar Sangam came to support the hardworking actor’s movie. It was a humble gesture by the team of supporting artists such as Ameer, Sivakumar, Prabhu and Radhika who gave a small press meeting explaining how they are going to help calm down the tension and subsequently help release the movie. What was more heart moving and touching was when fans gathered around Kamal Hassan’s residence and offered cheques and money orders to help him financially.

 

Lastly, I would like to thank Kamal Hassan’s fans for being patient and understanding and bearing with all the hiccups that the movie had to confront and also not engaging in violent means to make a statement. As Kamal Hassan said, violence is not a solution to everything; the fans acted accordingly and hence deserve a salute for their courteous behaviour.

 

In conclusion, Tamil Nadu is a wonderful state full of talent, culture, technology and above all solidarity. The way this great state helped handle the problems associated with Viswaroopam is a classic testimony of their achievement.

 

Vaazhga Tamil Nadu and its wonderful Tamilians. I am so proud of you all.