Bengaluru: Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah triggered a controversy on Tuesday by alleging that BJP leaders are forcing movie theatres to screen ‘The Kashmir Files’ instead of ‘James’ starring late Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Assembly session here, Siddaramaiah alleged that the producer of ‘James’ had confided in him about the issue.
“Since the producers of ‘James’ have booked theatres by paying advance amounts, forcing the theatres to screen ‘The Kashmir Files’ is nothing but harassment,” Siddaramaiah told mediapersons.
‘James’, which released on March 17, is Puneeth Rajkumar’s last film as an actor. The highly-popular actor and youngest son of thespian Rajkumar died of cardiac arrest in October last year.
The Vivek Agnihotri directed ‘The Kashmir Files’, which deals with the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley more than 30 years ago, has been made tax-free by the ruling BJP in Karnataka.
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