Tamil mob stops <i>Maathaad Maathaad Mallige</i> shooting

The trouble created by some self styled Tamil fanatics who were unnecessarily provoked by some miss guided elements from the media had stopped the shooting of Kannada film Maathaad Maathaad Mallige twice on Friday and Saturday. Sources in Ooty say that that there were two interruptions during the shooting of the film because of the trouble created by some fringe groups. Chitraloka sources say that it was mainly because of the composure shown by Dr. Vishnuvardhan, director Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar and producer K. Manju that the situation did not go overboard. Sensing that these people can not be provoked, the trouble shooters decided to take on Suhasini charging her with being pro Kannada attitude. It was certainly a hooligans act by any standards.

But thankfully the support that came from the Tamil Nadu Government and the Tamil film industry saved the situation. What could have been a deep embarrassment for the Tamil Nadu government did not happen because the process of de-escalation was mounted fast by some well meaning friends of Dr. Vishnu including actors Prabhu, Sharath Kumar, Ram Narayan (President of Tamil film producers association and a film director who made some Kannada films also) and actor politician Vijayakanth. Infact, Vijayakanth advised his fans not to protest in the shooting spots, as Dr. Vishnu is a respected personality in the Tamil film industry. A section of Tamil media has also tried to rake in controversies, when there was nothing that was provocatively told in the "Maathaad Maathaad Mallige' press conference in Ooty. The local press was not invited to the press conference, but they came in a group to raise some provocative questions

Dr. Vishnu showed tremendous composure with a provoking Tamil press who wanted him to answer as to why he had led a procession of film artists on the Cauvery Tribunal Verdict. Without going into the details of the whole issue, Dr. Vishnu said that they were shooting for the film Matada Matada Mallige in Ooty in a cordial atmosphere and this should be seen as that the Kannadigas or the Kannada film industry was not against anyone and were only interested in protecting the interests of the farmers.

Still the newsman persisted with their questions but it was again Dr. Vishnu's quiet and composed answers that saved the situation. Though Suhasini maintained that the press conference which was intended to tell details about the shooting of the film, questions were still raised about controversial things. She also said that the questioners should also know that a majority of Tamilians were leaving in Karnataka peacefully and they are not facing any trouble at this point of time after the tribunal judgement.