Unfair to bring up Vishwaroopam row: Uttama Villain producer

Producer Lingusamy says it is unfair to try and stall the release of Kamal Haasan-starrer ‘Uttama Villain’ by bringing in old controversies associated with ‘Vishwaroopam’.“It’s unfair to use the ‘Vishwaroopam’ controversy against the release of this film.Some groups have been trying to stall the release of our film for various reasons but an amicable solution has been finally reached,” Lingusamy said.

He confirmed that ‘Uttama Villain’ would release worldwide onMay 1 as planned earlier.“Recently, Kamal, some key members of Tamil film fraternity and I met the groups protesting against the release of our film. It has been decided that the ‘Vishwaroopam’ controversy should not influence the release of ‘Uttama Villain’,” he said.

During the release of ‘Vishwaroopam’, Haasan had filed a complaint to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against Tamil Nadu theatre owners association for alleged “anti-competitive practices” in restricting the release of his film via DTH platform.

Now, Kamal is ready to withdraw the petition, which was filed in 2013.“So the ‘Vishwaroopam’ controversy should not stop the release of this film,” he said.Directed by Ramesh Aravind, ‘Uttama Villain’ is the story of an eighth century theatre artiste and a modern-day superstar.