Rajini's Kuselan in deep trouble

The Kannada organisations have decided to continue their protest agitation to block the release of Superstar Rajinikanth's new film Kuselan which is slated for release on August 1 in several centres of the state. Rajinikanth's letter to the president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce indicating that he is not in the habit of hurting feelings of the people and the film chamber should co-operate for the release of his film Kuselan has not convinced the leaders of the pro Kannada organisations.

Terming Rajini's letter as style king's new stunt, former legislators Vatal Nagaraj and Prabhakar Reddy alleged that the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce has acted as brokers to the film's producers and distributors by allowing the free passage of the film's release. "This is not an apology letter. It is just an eye wash attempt by Rajinikanth to see that his film gets released without any problem. The fact is that Rajinikanth who was born and brought up in Karnataka has acted against the interests of the people of the state by stating that Tamil Nadu has the right to take up Hogenakal project. He has spoken harshly against the pro Kannada activists who are struggling to secure Kannada interests. We will not allow the release of the film in Karnataka come what may," said Vatal Nagaraj yesterday. Vatal Nagaraj addressed the press conference along with many leaders of pro Kannada organisations including the faction of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, which is spearheading the agitation to stall Kuselan's release in the state.

Narayana Gowda, the President of the militant Karnataka Rakshana Vedike said that Kannadigas are not fools to believe Rajinikanth who has perfected the art of double speak. "We wanted an apology from Rajinikanth. And an apology meant that Rajini should seek apology from all the five crore Kannadigas. For that he has to call a media conference and announce that he regrets for what he had spoken in Chennai on the day when the Tamil film artists had organised a protest rally. The KFCC is always acting against the interests of Kannadigas. We do not believe a letter to the President of the KFCC will dilute the feeling of hurt among Kannadigas. We are sure to block the release of the film in any part of the state," says Gowda.

And Gowda has made it another threat that if Rajini steps into the soil of Karnataka, he will be humiliated. "We are told he is coming here secretly for some of his personal work. If he publicly visits Bangalore, our volunteers are sure to question him about his remark on the Hogenakal issue," says Gowda.

However the distributors of the film in Karnataka were confident that the film will be released as scheduled. "The threat of protest was there even during the release of Rajinikanth's previous film Shivaji and even Kamal Hassan's previous film Dasavatharam. But both the films were released without any problems. We are sure that Kuselan would also be released on August 1," said an executive committee member of the KFCC.