Thug Life makers slam Karnataka Govt

Thug Life makers slam Karnataka Govt. Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam's Thug Life which released on 5 June got mixed reviews. It is known that Kamal Haasan created a controversy with his comments on Kannada language.

This resulted in fringe groups threatening the filmmakers of not allowing the screening of the film in the state. Now, Thug Life makers accused Karnataka government of not acting against the fringe groups over the threats.

Advocate A Velan said, “A fringe group issued threats of large-scale violence, including the burning of theatres and attacks against members of the Tamil linguistic minority residing in Karnataka. Despite these open and public threats, not a single FIR was registered, nor was any prosecution initiated by the State Government. On the contrary, the government appeared to adopt the position of the very fringe elements that issued those threats. We are aggrieved by this inaction and are now before the Supreme Court, seeking enforcement of this Court's past directions.”

Following this, Supreme Court posed questions to the Karnataka Government. Advocate Navpreet Kaur added, “We approached the Supreme Court after fringe groups issued open threats on social media to burn down theatres screening Thug Life, targeting both cinema halls and the Tamil linguistic minority in Karnataka. Despite clear Supreme Court guidelines requiring immediate action against such hate speech, the State took no action -- no FIRs were filed, and no protection was offered.... Instead, under pressure, the Karnataka Film Chamber advised theatres not to release the movie, resulting in a de facto ban. This is a serious law and order failure and a threat to constitutional rights... Recognising the urgency, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the State, and the matter is listed for hearing next Tuesday.”

Supreme Court bench comprising of justices  Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan issued notices to the Karnataka government, the State police, Raaj Kamal Films International Private Limited and the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) seeking their responses to the plea.