Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has assured that there will be no hurdles to the screening of late Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar's last film, James. The CM's remarks following a huge outrage over the Congress's claim that theatres were refusing to screen James in order to accommodate the controversial The Kashmir Files.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Bommai said, "I have spoken to The Film Chamber about this issue. If there is any trouble regarding the screening of James, the concerned producers and theatres have the power to sort it out. I have spoken to actor Shivarajkumar (Rajkumar’s brother and actor), too. I have requested him to bring it to my notice or to the notice of the Film Chamber if they face any such problem. They have also agreed".
The Controversy
The controversy started on Tuesday after Karnataka opposition leader Siddaramaiah alleged that some BJP politicians and party workers were forcing theatres to screen The Kashmir Files instead of James.
In a series of tweets Siddaramaiah had claimed, "@BJP4Karnataka’s lawmakers and activists are putting pressure on theatres to stop the screening of late Puneeth Rajkumar’s last film ‘James’ for ‘The Kashmiri Files’.” There were also reports that the producer of James, Kishore Pathikonda, met with Siddaramaiah on Monday.
“The film’s producers have already made theatre reservations and paid a deposit. Disrupting screening of James to show The Kashmir Files is harassment,” he had said.
Bommai had dismissed the allegations, saying, "Congress leaders have stopped low enough to even politicise films".
The allegations flared up after Pathikonda claimed several theatres had urged him to lower the number of presentations to accommodate other films, but he refused to name them.
On Thursday, Shivarajkumar refuted Siddaramaiah's allegation that James is being taken off theatres. He added that Pathikonda has screening problems with SS Rajamouli's Telugu movie, RRR.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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