'Baahubali 2' to release in Karnataka after Kannada outfits withdraw protest

April 22, 2017

Bengaluru, Apr 22: Pro-Kannada outfits today called off their protest against the release of "Baahubali 2" after actor Sathyaraj expressed regret over his controversial remarks made during the Cauvery row nine years ago.

"We accept the regret expressed by Sathyaraj and have decided to drop our protests. We have also withdrawn the call for Bengaluru bandh on April 28," Vatal Nagaraj, who was spearheading "Kannada Okoota", an umbrella organisation of Kannada bodies, told reporters here.

The announcement comes a day after Sathyaraj, who plays the role of Kattappa in the movie, apologised. The decision by the outfits paves the way for the release of the second part of the epic fantasy, which the outfits had threatened to stall if their demand for an "unconditional apology" from Sathyaraj was not met.

The controversy began after a video, in which Sathyaraj made the alleged anti-Kannada comments in the context of the Cauvery river water row, surfaced a fortnight ago and went viral.Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are locked in a bitter row over the sharing of Cauvery waters.

Nagaraj said the Kannada outfits had no grouse against director S S Rajamouli or the film but were "outraged over cheap comments" made against Kannadigas and the state by Sathyaraj. He said since Sathyaraj had expressed regret, they did not want to press the issue or stretch the protest any further.

Nagaraj, however, warned that if Sathyaraj tried to provoke Kannadigas again, his movies will not be allowed to release in Karnataka. Nagaraj said there were reports that Kannada films were not being allowed to be screened in Tamil Nadu.

"If these reports are true, we will stop the screening of Tamil films and Tamil TV channels," he said.

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce President and Kannada activist Sa Ra Govindu said he had verified with the South Indian film chamber about reports that Kannada films were not being allowed to be screened in Tamil Nadu and he was told that they were not correct.

Rajamouli had also made a video appeal, saying the film should not be dragged into the matter as the comments were made nine years ago.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Kangana Ranaut attacks ‘Tejasvi Surya’, accuses him of hooliganism mistaking him for Tejashwi Yadav

News Network

May 5,2024

New Delhi, May 5: Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut intended to target an opposition leader but mistakenly ended up attacking her BJP colleague instead.

A similarity in names - Tejashwi and Tejasvi - was behind Ms Ranaut's fumble. "There's a party of spoilt princes... whether it's Rahul Gandhi who wants to grow potatoes on the Moon, or Tejasvi Surya who does hooliganism and eats fish," she had said.

RJD leader and former Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was supposed to be the original target of her diatribe as one of his videos where he was seen eating fish became a major flashpoint between the BJP and the opposition recently.

Tejasvi Surya, incorrectly referred to by Ms Ranaut during an election rally yesterday, is BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Bengaluru South constituency in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Mr Yadav has responded to a clip of Kangana Ranaut's statement. "Ye mohtarma kaun hai?" (Who is this lady?), he posted on X.

Kangana Ranaut has been verbally bashing the Congress party since the BJP fielded her as their Lok Sabha candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi. Congress leaders Vikramaditya Singh - her opponent in Mandi - and Rahul Gandhi have been the main targets on her dartboard.

While addressing a public rally in the Sundernagar area of Mandi Parliamentary Constituency yesterday, Ms Ranaut took a jibe at Mr Singh and Mr Gandhi over dynasty politics and said that both of them have a magic stick for development and talk only about non-practical things.

The Congress hit back saying the 37-year-old actor should first check the facts about her party leaders and speak about dynastic politics. National Media Coordinator for the Congress, Amrit Kaur, also questioned her qualifications on which she got a BJP ticket from Mandi.

The Mandi Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on June 1, in the seventh phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Comments