Kerala will see Code in Malayalam

The controversial film The Da Vinci Code was today released in Kerala, the state with the largest Christian population. The film, whose screening has been banned or suspended in five states, was released in English, and in a dubbed Malayalam version, in 11 theatres in Kerala.

Long queues were seen for booking tickets for all four shows at Sridhar Cinema Hall here. 8216;8216;The telephones are continuously ringing and all tickets have been sold out,8217;8217; said manager Ramkumar. 8216;8216;This is the first film after Titanic to receive so many enquiries.8217;8217;

Catholics in the state have, however, reacted 8216;8216;coldly8217;8217; to the film, Father Paul Thelekkat, spokesperson of the Syro Malabar Church said. He said the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had cleared the movie for screening and the Church wants to affirm that it is 8216;8216;simply a work of imagination and not a historical film8217;8217;.

The government cleared the film only after Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi viewed it with representatives of Christian groups to get their views.