AK BalanThiruvananthapuram: Minister for culture A.K. Balan on Friday said that national anthem will be played all the theaters and that all concerned authorities will be informed accordingly.
"The Supreme Court order need not be viewed with suspicion. Only those who are willing should stand up when the national anthem is being played," Balan said in Manorama News' chat show Nere Chovve.
Meanwhile, eminent Malayalam filmmaker and chairman of Kerala Chalachitra Academy Kamal said the national anthem would be played before screening of every movie during the upcoming International Film Festival of Kerala in view of the Supreme Court directive.
However, the Academy, the organizer of the annual movie gala, would seek legal opinion in getting relaxation in this regard as a number of movies would be screened in various categories daily during the week-long festival, he told reporters here.
"The Supreme Court directive is applicable to all. So the national anthem will be played. But we will think of asking for exemption. Because during the festival, films are screened before the same audience," Kamal said in a press meet.
Academy vice-chairperson Bina Paul Venugopal said, "In the wake of the present verdict, we may have to go to the court and ask whether it is necessary to play the national anthem before every show during the festival."
The 21st edition of IFFK will get underway here on December 9.
Around 13,000 delegates have already registered for the much-awaited gala.
The apex court had recently directed that cinema halls across the country must play the national anthem before the screening of a film and people should stand up as a mark of respect.
(With agency inputs)
