The reason? The Tamil actor who plays ‘Katappa’ made a remark last year that ruffled feathers in Karnataka. 

Yes, you guessed it right. It’s got to do with the decades-old water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which saw trucks and buses from Tamil Nadu being burnt in Bengaluru last year.

What did he say?

Tamil actor Sathyaraj, who plays Kattappa in the movie, gave a speech last year at an event by the Tamil film industry in solidarity with Tamil farmers seeking water from Karnataka. The event was attended by Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Sharath Kumar.

In one of his remarks, he appealed to Tamils to stand up for their rights and not be passive like a tree every dog would urinate on, reports The Telegraph.

Pro-Kannada activists took an offense to the “dog” reference which they decided was a reference to Karnataka residents for opposing the release of Cauvery waters to its neighbour.

‘He must apologise’

Around 2,000 Kannada outfits led by activist Vatal Nagaraj have decided to stall the release of the film in the state, as per a Mirror report.

Nagaraj told the tabloid that unless Sathyaraj apologise for his derogatory remarks, they don’t allow the film to release anywhere in Karnataka.

The activist also told Telegraph, “No theatres will dare release it as we have our volunteers to keep a watch.”

The demand for apology or else, has been supported by several filmmakers in the industry like Film Chamber President and Sandalwood Rakshana Vedike Chief Sara Govindaraju.

Even Rajinikanth had to apologise

This is not the first time that a comment on the water dispute has stalled a film. In 2008, superstar Rajinikanth’s Tamil film Kuselan could be released in Karnataka only after he apolgised for opposing Karnataka’s stand on the dispute.