Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan today moved the Madras high court after the Tamil Nadu government stalled the screening of his film Vishwaroopam for fifteen days. The star said that he is "apalled how my film is construed against Muslim brothers".
He said that the circumstances leading to the ban were akin to cultural terrorism and added he was a victim of celebrity bashing.

"I am not only hurt by these accusations of denigrating a community but my sensibilities are truly insulted.

"I have been ruthlessly used as a vehicle by small groups who seek political profile. Icon bashing is a great way to be noticed when you are not one yourself. It is happenning again and again," Kamal Haasan said.

He added that he would "now rely on law and logic to come to our support. This kind of cultural terrorism will have to stop."

Expressing anguish over the developments he said, "I am appalled at how my film is construed to be against my Muslim brothers."

"My statements in favour of that community have marked me as a sympathiser. I have always gone beyond the call of my duty as an actor to voice my opinion in favour of what was humane and civil. I have been part of an organisation called Harmony India which works for Hindu Muslim amity," he said to remind people of his secular credentials.

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday night banned the screening of Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam following strong protests from various Muslim organisations over alleged depiction of their community in a negative light.

Official sources said the state government has asked the respective district collectors to invoke necessary legal provisions to maintain law and order.

The ban came hours after the Muslim groups petitioned the government, seeking a ban.

A group of 20-odd organisations under a common banner submitted a memorandum to home secretary R Rajagopal to press for their demand, a day after taking up the matter with city police.

MH Jawahirullah, MLA and president of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, told reporters that the movie "targets Muslims and their beliefs".

Mohammed Haneefa, coordinator of Federation of Islamic Movements and Political Parties, said the community would not accept such portrayal even if certain scenes are deleted.

"We intend to register our apprehensions that release of the film with (even) deleted scenes or changes will affect the social harmony and all-round peace in the state," he said.

The move comes days after Haasan, who directs and stars in the movie, held a special show for them.

The big budget movie has been made in Tamil, Hindi and Telegu.

Haasan has already clarified that Muslims are not shown in a objectionable manner in the film but that has failed to soothe frayed tempers of the community, which blames him of having a history of doing so in earlier films like Hey Ram and Unnai Pol Oruvan, the latter a remake of Hindi hit A Wednesday.

Hassan had played the role of Naseruddin Shah in the original.

Haasan has been facing lot of hurdles with his latest movie, which has been made on a huge budget.

His decision to show it on a DTH platform ahead of its theatrical release was faced with strong protests by screen-owners recently.

He was forced to drop his plans to have a DTH premiere first after the protests but moved the Competition Commission of India against Tamil Nadu theatre owners for allegedly restricting the release.