Refusing to entertain a plea by a man heading a caste outfit to impose a geographical ban on screening of the upcoming Tamil film Annakodi directed by veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja, Justice N Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought to know how the petitioner could place such a demand without even watching the movie.
Petitioner A K Ragupathy, who heads a little-known Thevar caste outfit, claimed that the storyline of Annakodi was about a Thevar girl falling in love with a Dalit boy. He sought a ban on its screening in the southern districts of TN since it was a caste-sensitive subject.
He further claimed that he had learnt that the film contained objectionable scenes and dialogues, which could incite communal disharmony and enmity and lead to public disorder in the southern districts. He cited earlier protests over Bharathi Kannamma, another film with a similar script.
Though he submitted a petition on June 22 to the Chief Secretary and other officials to ban film’s screening, there was no response prompting him to approach the court.
Justice Kirubakaran asked, “Without knowing the contents of the film, how can you conclude that it will instigate communal clashes?.” He adjourned the case to Friday, the date on which the film is slated to hit screens.