TN: Police lathicharge after crowd hurls during 'Sarkar' release

Police made a lathicharge and restored order, the official said, adding the fans expressed regret for their behaviour.

The police made a lathicharge to disperse a crowd which had thronged a suburban theatre Monday for buying tickets for popular Tamil actor Vijay starrer 'Sarkar' on the eve of the film's release as it became "unmanageable." Movie aficionados began thronging the area since this morning and some of them allegedly tried to break window panes in their attempt to buy the tickets at a movie hall in Guduvanchery. "The crowd became unmanageable for the theatre personnel.

They feared damage to property and sought police intervention," a senior district police official told PTI.

Police made a lathicharge and restored order, the official said, adding the fans expressed regret for their behaviour. On the eve of the movie release on Diwali in the state, enthusiastic fans put up posters and banners, in parts of Tamil Nadu, hinting at a possible "political foray" of their matinee idol.

Some of the publicity material has caught attention for its political overtones. A huge banner put up at Manapparai in Tiruchirappalli district says "enough of Kazhagams' (Dravidian parties) rule..make way for our Thalapathi (commander)." Vijay's image is seen juxtaposed with that of top state leaders like K Kamaraj (freedom fighter and former chief minister) C N Annadurai (Dravidian icon and founder of DMK) and former chief minister M G Ramachandran (AIADMK founder).

"Thalapathi is coming to pose a challenge to all those who have ruled Tamil Nadu," another poster said. Going by the movie trailer, Vijay is an entrepreneur who sets in motion efforts to revolutionise the political scenario in the state following his return from abroad. The Vijay-Keerthy Suresh starrer is produced by Sun Pictures and directed by AR Murugadoss with Oscar-winning film composer A R Rahman scoring music.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Film Producers Council brought to the attention of film exhibitors that a portal that "hosts pirated versions" of films has challenged that it would upload the HD version of the movie as early as Tuesday evening within hours of its release. TFPC said the portal must not succeed in its illegal attempt and urged movie halls to deploy personnel inside theatres to prevent recording of the movie by using mobile phones or cameras.

Besides Sarkar, comparatively small budget movies "Billa Pandi" and "Kalavani Mappillai," are being released for the festival of lights. Last month, Vijay had said corruption has spread like a "virus" in society and insisted if the leader at the top is honest, so will be his followers. He also deplored that bribes were demanded even issuing birth and death certificates.

(With inputs from agencies.)