Chennai:
The wait is over. Superstar Vijay's
Thalaivaa is finally set to release in Tamil Nadu today with its tagline "time to lead" dropped.
The release of the film, scheduled on Eid, was suspended following bomb threats from an unknown group. There is still no clarity on what the group objected to in the film.
Vijay, who has refrained from accusing anyone, has denied
Thalaivaa being a political film.
After Chief Minister Jayalalithaa refused to intervene to get the film released, the makers of the film asked for police permission for a day-long hunger strike last week. The request was turned down.
The state administration has denied asking theatres not to screen the film, but they remain non-committal on providing them security.
Interestingly, the Tamil film fraternity is also silent on the issue. An actor, who refused to be identified, said, "It's a state where vendetta politics rules and it's safe to be silent than speaking up and paying for it."
It is the same fraternity that had united to fight the state when actor Kamal Haasan's
Viswaroopam was banned by the Jayalalithaa government earlier this year.
A veteran film producer says, "Unfortunately, it has become difficult these days to release a movie in the state. How can the state governments interfere in a movie cleared by the Censor Board?"