Church lauds theatres for ensuring Code ban

The circular berates the state government for doing nothing: ‘‘Any government focusing on its subjects’ welfare has a responsibility to control nonsense produced in the name of freedom of expression,’’ it says, saying no literature, art or film hurting religious sentiments could be in tune with secularism. The circular also reminds the government that this movie, ‘‘denigrating Jesus and the church’’, has been banned in neighbouring states.

‘‘Some 90 per cent of Christian theatre owners have decided not to exhibit this movie. Many told us that the Church has asked them, and they did not wish to risk a confrontation,’’ says Unnikrishnan, who distributes the movie in three-fourths of Kerala for its Chennai-based agent. ‘‘They had no written communication from the Church, but this was conveyed orally to all of them, in all districts.’’

In Thrissur, the movie was screened for a few days in government-owned Sree theatre, which Church activists laid a siege to until police intervened. It did not run for long in Ernakulam, and is drawing no big crowds in Thiruvananthapuram, says Sreekumar, the distributor’s representative there. ‘‘We are looking more at the rural areas now, since we have a Malayalam version,’’ according to him.