BENGALURU: Kannada activists, who had decided to stall the release of Baahubali 2 in Karnataka because of the remarks one of the actors made against Kannadigas, have decided not to do so after the actor apologised.
The bandh call by pro Kannada organisations on April 28 has also been withdrawn. Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj said "Sathyaraj has apologised in public. So, we have decided to stop this here and withdrawn the bandh call."
Nine years ago, Sathyaraj had referred to Kannadigas in derogatory terms with reference to sharing of Cauvery water. However, Vatal Nagaraj warned the actor not to take issues related to Karnataka lightly and not make any inflammatory statements in the future.
"In such a case, we will ensure that all his films are banned permanently here," he said. President of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) Sa Ra Govind said that reports of Kannada films being pulled out of theatres in Tamil Nadu due to this issue were untrue. "It is true that some films have been pulled out, but that was because the films were not doing well" he said.