Censor Board defends 'Dasavatharam'

Chennai , May 14 (UNI) The Censor Board, Chennai, has submitted before the Madras High Court that the ready-for-release Tamil film 'Dasavatharam' merely portrays certain historical truth and does not hurt or denigrate the religious sentiments of Hindus.

In its counter, the Censor Board contended that ''it does not contain any violent sectorial clash between Saivites and Vaishnavites and no scene in the film would foster hatred between the sects.'' Denying allegations levelled by the International Sri Vaishnava Dharma Samrakshanaa Society in its public interest writ petition, film's Director Ravikumar said, ''there is not even one frame in the film that would even remotely hurt the religious sentiments of any group, much less the sentiments of Vaishnavites.'' ''The petition had been filed following blatant misconception of the whole story line and events depicted,'' Mr Ravikumar submitted.

''While conceding that the film portrays certain events which took place, the core message of the film is that whenever human being are in extreme trouble and seek divine intervention, Lord Vishnu saves them,'' he said.

The regional officer of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Babu Ramasamy, in his counter affidavit, said the petitioner had not explained as to how and why the title, 'Dasavatharam,' offended the religious faith. The title does not violate any of the guidelines in the Cinematography Act and a film with the same title had been certified by the CBFC.

He also clarified that the Board, which issued certificate to the film on April 22, was fully convinced by the film.

While the matter came up for hearing before a bench comprising Justice K Raja Surya and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, the counsel appeared for the film's producer, said till now, the film's release date is not fixed. The bench posted the case for hearing to May 20.

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