Bangalore, Feb 10 (DHNS): Actor Kamal Haasan visited Bangalore on Saturday to thank the state and the people for their support and rousing reception for his film “Vishwaroopam.”

At a press conference at the Renukamba theatre at Malleswaram, the actor, who was flanked by close friend and actor Ramesh Arvind, repeatedly thanked the state which allowed the screening of the movie without any cuts. “It gave me strength. Bangalore is good place to release the film. India lives here so it is a good sample,” he said.

Kamal, who opposed ban on films, said: “Now, films like ‘Kadal’ and ‘Aadhi Bhagavan’ are also facing problems. This is becoming a trend which should be challenged. I am sure people will do it. I knew my freedom of speech was important. But I did not know that the country would also support this and the common man would find it important. I felt I had freedom after all.” 

Speaking about the cuts in the movie, Kamal said he was anguished, but never depressed, only oppressed. “I have been always been a secular man. This was as if they were saying I am not secular enough,” he said.

He, however, said that no visual portions were removed from the film, but audio was blocked in two scenes, which some Muslims had opposed.  When asked if the opposition to his movie could be a conspiracy, he answered: “It could be. I am so paranoid at the moment that I will believe anything.”

Talking about initial plan to release Vishwaroopam film on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform before the theatres, he admitted: “There was a lot of scuttling done. It’s a new medium. If not today, it will come tomorrow. I truly believe it's an important platform,” he said. “Only people who circulate pirated versions of films need to be worried about DTH and not theatre owners.”

Kamal stated  that his creativity was flowing after the issue about the film was resolved. He promised to release “Vishwaroopam 2” by the end of this year, if there were no obstacles to the making of the film.