Chennai, April 27

The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed a petition by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) seeking a stay on the release of superstar Kamal Haasan's Tamil film "Uttama Villain" along with the deletion of a song about Lord Vishnu.

Pointing out that there was no merit in the plea, Justice T. Raja dismissed the writ petition.

According to the petitioner, the lyrics of the song had belittled a conversation between Prahlad (a devotee of Lord Vishnu) and his father Hiranyakaship (a demon) and this hurt the feelings of the Hindu community.

The VHP had condemned Kamal Haasan and demanded a ban on the film.

It also said that if the film was released in cinemas on Friday, the whole Hindu community will be put to shame.

Directed by Ramesh Aravind, the film that features Kamal Haasan in the lead is the story of an eighth century theatre artist and a modern-day superstar.