Kannada row: Court bars Kamal Haasan from making 'defamatory' remarks
What's the story
A Bengaluru court has restrained actor Kamal Haasan from making any "defamatory" comments about the Kannada language. An Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge passed the order on Friday after hearing a suit filed by Mahesh Joshi, the president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP), on behalf of his organization. The suit sought an injunction against Haasan for allegedly claiming linguistic superiority over Kannada.
Legal proceedings
Actor can't make statements against the Kannada language, literature
The court's injunction order restrains Haasan from "posting, making, writing, publishing any statement or remarks claiming linguistic superiority over Kannada language or making any statements against the Kannada language, literature, land and culture." The court has also issued a summons to Haasan and posted the case for further hearing on August 30.
Controversy
Controversy began when Haasan said 'Kannada was born out...'
The controversy began when Haasan made a statement during the promotion of Thug Life in May. He said that "Kannada was born out of Tamil," which sparked widespread outrage among pro-Kannada groups and cultural organizations. Despite the backlash, he defended his statement and refused to apologize, leading to Thug Life not being released in Karnataka. The film, directed by Mani Ratnam, eventually underperformed at the box office.