One of the renowned theatres of Chennai, Kasi Theatre, cancelled two of its shows of the Vishal-starrer Irumbu Thirai on Friday because of protests by members of the Hindu Makkal Katchi, who have been calling for a ban on the film for allegedly portraying the workings of 'Digital India', and specifically, the Aadhaar card system in a bad light.

Commenting on the issue, the director of the film, PS Mithran, says, "We have said nothing against the government in the film. We only wanted to convey to the audience that Aadhaar card is not just another ID card, it is a master card with a person's fingerprint and retina details; if somebody tries to steal its database, people will end up in grave danger."

Adding on, Vishal, who is also the producer of the film, says, "We have only spoken the truth. The film has already cleared the censors, and we have nothing more to add. It's their freedom to protest." 

The representatives of Kasi theatre were unavailable for comment. 

It's worth mentioning that the Madras High Court had recently dismissed a writ petition filed against the film seeking to stall its release. The petitioner, Natarajan, had alleged that the cyber-crime thriller portrays the Aaadhar card scheme negatively after watching the film’s trailer. The Madras High Court had dismissed the case, citing that the CBFC had already cleared the film without any objections.

Police protection has since been provided for the theatres screening Irumbu Thirai in Chennai, including Satyam Cinemas and T Nagar AGS Cinemas.

Interestingly, earlier this year, Vijay’s Mersal had kicked-up a similar controversy post-release, when members of the BJP wanted certain scenes that criticised the Goods and Services Tax to be chopped, but the plea was subsequently dismissed.

Note: This is a developing story