Sudeep fans resort to vandalism over delay in Kotigobba 3 release

Bengaluru, Oct 14: Fans of Kiccha Sudeep turned violent on Thursday in cinema halls in parts of Karnataka as the shows from his latest film Kotigobba 3 was cancelled at the last minute. The mob destroyed posters and damaged properties in theatres in the state.

In many parts of Karnataka, the fans had queued up in big numbers to watch the movie of their favourite star on the release day. To their shock, the shows were cancelled triggering violence in theatres.

Some fans got upset and broke the iron gate of a cinema theatre and also indulged in stone-pelting in Vijayapura.

Producer Soorappa Babu said that the delay in the release of Kotigobba 3 was not because of him. He said, "my film Kotigobba-3 could not be released today as I was cheated. There are many reasons.. Some people have conspired against me. The movie will be released tomorrow at 6 am. Please pardon me. I am not at fault."

In a video, Kiccha Sudeep appealed to the angry fans not to resort to vandalise theatres. He posted, "I saw Babu's video message. I know well who conspired against you (Babu). Only time will give the answer to them (Babu's opponents)."

He added, "It's my duty to inform all those at the theaters already ,,that there is a delay in shows due to certain issues. I personally apologies for this negligence from the concerned. | request all not to react badly at the theaters as they have nothing to do wth this..

This is a rare situation and I'm sure a lil patience from all wil be my greatest strength. I too was equally excited to bring forth a film on screen, after scha long gap. Will tweet soon on the show timings once | have better clarity on it. Until then | request not to because any harm to urslf nor cause damage to any properties(theaters). [sic]"

Kotigobba-3 also features actors Madonna Sebastian, Ashika Ranganath, Shraddha Das and Aftab Shivadasani. Shiva Karthik is the director and Arjun Janya has scored the music.