Amid protests and demand for a ban on the screening of Vijay Devarakonda-starrer ‘Kingdom’ on the charge that the movie portrays Sri Lankan Tamils in a derogatory manner, Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Tamil Nadu Police to provide protection to theatres running the film in the event of disruptions.
The film had come under severe criticism from pro-Tamil parties like the ultra-Tamil National Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) as well as the ruling DMK’s allies, MDMK of Vaiko, and Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi of T Velmurugan, MLA among others. Their grouse is that the movie has belittled the now decimated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and shows the Lankan Tamils as migrants.
Directing the police to provide adequate protection to cinemas in case there were threats, Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that no one can threaten theatre owners for screening a movie on account of disagreement with the content of a film. The Judge passed the orders on a petition from the firm which had secured the theatrical rights of the movie, released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. The petitioner complained that the NTK of Seeman, also a filmmaker himself, had posted against the film on ‘X’ and his party supporters had begun to disrupt the film shows at many places, including Coimbatore.
The petitioner counsel also played videos of the movie’s banners, flex boards and posters being damaged with NTK cadres campaigning against the movie inside cinemas and dissuading the public to boycott the movie. The government counsel submitted that the NTK had held many protest demonstrations and the police had so far arrested 16 people in connection with this issue.
At this juncture, counsel for Seeman informed the court that the NTK leader, though opposed to the content of the film, had not done anything to prevent its screening in theatres. He also submitted that the NTK’s protests were only peaceful in a democratic manner and this should not be blown out of proportion. Further, he said that the makers of ‘Kingdom’ had erred in portraying the entire ethnic Tamils in the island nation as migrants and indulging in illegal activities like smuggling.
Justice Chakravarthy, intervening, said, “You and I may not agree with the content if it is very abhorrent as you say. But another person might have a different view. In a democracy, artistic freedom will always have to be protected even more so when the Censor Board has cleared it.” All the same, he made it clear that a political party has a right to register its protest, but it had to secure prior