Bengaluru, Apr 22 (PTI): Pro-Kannada outfits today called off their protest against the release of "Baahubali 2" after actor Sathyaraj expressed regret over his controversial remarks made during the Cauvery row nine years ago.

"We accept the regret expressed by Sathyaraj and have decided to drop our protests. We have also withdrawn the call for Bengaluru bandh on April 28," Vatal Nagaraj, who was spearheading "Kannada Okoota", an umbrella organisation of Kannada bodies, told reporters here.

The announcement comes a day after Sathyaraj, who plays the role of Kattappa in the movie, apologised. The decision by the outfits paves the way for the release of the second part of the epic fantasy, which the outfits had threatened to stall if their demand for an "unconditional apology" from Sathyaraj was not met.

The controversy began after a video, in which Sathyaraj made the alleged anti-Kannada comments in the context of the Cauvery river water row, surfaced a fortnight ago and went viral.Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are locked in a bitter row over the sharing of Cauvery waters.

Nagaraj said the Kannada outfits had no grouse against director S S Rajamouli or the film but were "outraged over cheap comments" made against Kannadigas and the state by Sathyaraj. He said since Sathyaraj had expressed regret, they did not want to press the issue or stretch the protest any further.

Nagaraj, however, warned that if Sathyaraj tried to provoke Kannadigas again, his movies will not be allowed to release in Karnataka. Nagaraj said there were reports that Kannada films were not being allowed to be screened in Tamil Nadu.

"If these reports are true, we will stop the screening of Tamil films and Tamil TV channels," he said.

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce President and Kannada activist Sa Ra Govindu said he had verified with the South Indian film chamber about reports that Kannada films were not being allowed to be screened in Tamil Nadu and he was told that they were not correct.

Rajamouli had also made a video appeal, saying the film should not be dragged into the matter as the comments were made nine years ago.

Bengaluru: Kannada films in Tamil Nadu taken off screens

Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Apr 22: After the controversy over the release of the movie, 'Bahubali - 2' threatened to snowball into major confrontation, decks seemed to have been cleared for the film's exhibition in the state with the unconditional apology tendered by Tamil actor, Sathyaraj, who has donned the role of 'Kattappa' in the film. However, trouble started afresh after suddenly Kannada films were taken off the theatres in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, dispute between the two film industries of south India worsened again since Friday night.

People who had booked their tickets to watch Kannada film, 'Shuddhi' in PVR Cinemas at Chennai received messages on their cellphones that the bookings had been cancelled. In addition, Kannada movies, Chakravarthi and Srinivasa Kalyana, which were having a successful run, were also withdrawn from the screens. All Kannada films have been withdrawn and replaced with Tamil films in Tamil Nadu, as per information.

As soon as this information was received, leading personalities of Sandalwood got incensed. They have warned of kicking Tamil movies out of theatres in Karnataka. Some of the theatres in Bengaluru remained shut in response to the call for protest.

Some viewers said that they suddenly received messages about cancellation of the screening of 'Shuddhi' film in Chennai without assigning any reason. Some of the Kannada films screened in malls were having good box office collection, but all of them were taken off. Several have tweeted about withdrawal of Kannada movies since Friday evening.

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president, Sa Ra Govindu,who stated that he has information that Kannada movies have been removed from screens in Tamil Nadu, warned that screening of Tamil movies will be stopped in Karnataka and 'Bahubali-2' will not be allowed to be released here. Director of Kannada movie, 'Shuddhi', Adarsh, who confirmed that screening of the film has been stopped, expressed his resentment at this development.

Pro-Kannada organizations, who had held protest against releasing of 'Bahubali-2' film in Karnataka because of insulting remarks made by one of its actors, Sathyaraj, some years back, had withdrawn the protest after the actor tendered apology. Fresh action by theatres in Tamil Nadu has stoked controversy again in the state.