'I was very hurt'
With his film finally being given the go-ahead for release, veteran star Kamal Haasan seems to be in a jubilant mood, but his underlying anxieties and pain were evident even as he addressed the media in Mumbai on Thursday.
On Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's decision on the Vishwaroopam ban, he merely offered, "The matter is sub-judice now, so I can't speak about it." Does he believe that the ban was a politically motivated revenge move on the CM's part? He shoots back, "Let me clarify one thing. Here at this press meet, I can see so many heads right now and it's difficult to tell who is a trouble maker and who is not. Similarly, several heads may have made the decision together. I will not be able to mention any names. For now, the government has agreed to revoke the ban. So let's see what's in store for us." Does he agree that there exists a fair amount of 'saffron terrorism', which is being supported by some ministers? "This is a matter of debate. I will only say that any terrorism, be it green, blue or whatever, should not be supported. My film Vishwaroopam doesn’t support terrorism at all and neither does it showcase Muslims in a bad light. In fact, the film portrays the intelligence of Muslim women and I am sure that in the future, many more talented Muslim women will make it to the top professionally," he points out.
"I was terribly hurt by the things some Muslim authorities said about my film. I’m not saying that they were not intelligent enough to discuss but there are a few more intelligent people in our country who could debate better without deviating from the real issue," adds Kamal, about the controversy surrounding his film.
"My 77-year-old elder brother Chandra Haasan, who heads Rajkamal films, is relieved by the government’s latest assurances and has slept soundly for four hours for the first time in three days," he shares further. About support from his peers, he says, “All my colleagues from Tollywood came to me and offered me coffee. Their concern makes me feel happy. We have lost a huge amount of money, around Rs 60 to Rs 70 crores, but money is not important compared to the respect of my country."
In the past couple of days, there have been several reports of the star threatening to leave India in search of a secular place. Does he really feel that way? "I didn’t say it to threaten. I said it because I was hurt by all the developments. For me, this cannot be any kind of publicity. In fact, I condemn such publicity because it shows my country India in bad light. We are a country of people from different castes, creeds and religion. I myself do not profess any religion. I’ve been mistaken for a Muslim because of my surname but it has never bothered me. Mahatma Gandhi once said 'I will live here, because I belong to this place'. Similarly, I belong to India; I make films for my Tamil, Telugu and Hindi audiences in return for all the love from my fans. Why would I even think of leaving my country? I only said it because I was literally hurt. And I will stick to my words if this is repeated."
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