It began with a special screening and that is what it will take to settle the Vishwaroopam controversy. Adjourning Kamal Haasan’s petition challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s fortnight-long ban on his multilingual film, the Madras high court on Thursday said: “Whether the film has scenes affecting sentiments of people who have made the complaint or not, can be decided only after viewing it.”

Justice K Venkatraman said he would review the film in the presence of Haasan’s representatives as well as the aggrieved parties before passing any order. The next hearing is on January 28.

Vishwaroopam is a thriller produced and directed by Haasan who has also acted in it. When some Muslim organisations objected to it, Haasan organised a special screening to allay their fears. However, the organisations hardened their stance after watching it. MLA MH Jawahirullah said it gave the impression that “all Muslims are terrorists”.

Fearing a law and order problem, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday banned the release of the film for a fortnight.