Will ‘Kaavalan’ release in December as planned?

The makers of the film ‘Kaavalan’, starring Vijay and Asin in the lead and directed by Siddique who earlier directed Vijay in ‘Friends’ more than a decade ago, are said to be planning to release the film during the month of December.  Doubts, however, have crept up as to whether or not the film would be releasing on the scheduled day.

Asin, the heroine of ‘Kaavalan’, had been to Sri Lanka (her visit was against a diktat passed earlier by Nadigar Sangam, FEFSI and other affiliated bodies asking artistes from the industry to stay away from visiting Lanka) in June-July to shoot for her upcoming Hindi film titled ‘Ready’ opposite Salman Khan.  Though Asin said she was only fulfilling her ‘professional commitment’, her visit to the rehabilitation camps in the company of the wife of the Lankan president made matters worse for her.

The Kollywood boycott of Lanka was mainly due to the Lankan president’s handling of the anti-LTTE operations and the subsequent genocide of ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils last year.  In this backdrop, Asin’s ‘friendly’ overture towards the wife of the President was seen as an act of ‘betrayal’ by many in the media as well as in Kollywood.

Just when a ban on Asin by the Sangam and FEFSI was on the cards, Sangam’s president Sarathkumar’s unexpected support to the actress put everything in the back-burner.  The ‘ban’ was then reduced to a mere ‘apology’ from Asin which too wasn’t forthcoming.  Meanwhile, Hindu Makkal Katchi and other radical organizations have started protesting against Asin for her ‘stance’.

These organizations have also said that they won’t allow ‘Kaavalan’ to release in Tamil Nadu as it stars Asin in the lead role.  Only if the action proposed to be taken by Asin by Nadigar Sangam is announced, would they let the film ‘release’, they have reportedly threatened.

Watch this space for further updates!