Muslim body lends support to VHP against 'Uttama Villain'

Chennai, April 11
The Indian National League (INL), a Muslim organisation, has joined the fight along side the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) against the release of Kamal Haasan-starrer "Uttama Villain", claiming the film will hurt religious sentiments.

In its petition, INL said that Haasan's film "Vishwaroopam" hurt the sentiments of the Muslims. Now, his new film "Uttama Villain" is playing with the sentiments of Hindus.

"It's not nice on Kamal Haasan's part to offend the sentiments of different communities with his films. If he's creating controversies for publicity, it's really cheap on his part. We demand strict action against him," M. Nazeer Ahammad, secretary of INL, told the police.

On April 8, the VHP had sought a ban on the film claiming it would offend the religious sensibilities of Hindus. They were upset with the lyrics of a song "Iraniyan Nadagam" in the film, saying it will upset the followers of Lord Vishnu.

According to the VHP, the song belittles the conversation between mythological figures Prahalad and Hiranyakashipu.

Directed by Ramesh Aravind, the film, which is slated for release on May 1, is said to be the story of an 8th century theatre artist and a modern day superstar.