[8] After the change, Haasan filed a complaint at the Competition Commission of India against the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association for "anti-competitive practices" in restricting the release of Vishwaroopam.
[14] After persistent pressure to cut the film's allegedly objectionable scenes, Kamal Haasan said that he could be forced to leave the state of Tamil Nadu and India.
[17] Islamic organizations had earlier demanded that the film be screened by them before its release, expressing concern over the depiction of the Muslim community in the movie.
[19] TMMK leader M. H. Jawahirullah claimed,[20] "There is a danger that the public may view any Muslim with a beard as a terrorist waiting for an opportunity to plant a bomb."
[21] Haasan took the matter to the Madras High Court, seeking an immediate rollback of the government ban based on the approval by the Central Board of Film Certification.
[22] However, Justice K. Venkatraman stayed the screening of Vishwaroopam until 28 January, delaying the release in Tamil Nadu for three days, to review the film.
[26][27] It was suggested that the judge was awaiting the result of Haasan's other case against District collectors, who gave orders to ban the film's release.
[43] Chief Minister Jayalalithaa defended the government's action, stating it was not in a position to provide security across all 524 theatres where it was to be screened from 25 January.
[44][45] The National Censorship Board and the Malaysian Islamic Development Department reviewed the film, and the Home Ministry lifted the ban on 19 February 2013.
"[50] The film's ban was decried by Ajith Kumar, who questioned whether India was "a secular nation or being played based the vote bank politics.
"[52] Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt said that the humiliation of an "immaculate actor" and "national treasure" is "one of the darkest moments for the entire film fraternity.
"[49] Other individuals who expressed their disapproval of the film's ban include Sushilkumar Shinde,[49] Aamir Khan,[54] Anubhav Sinha,[50] Manoj Bajpayee,[50] Siddharth,[50] R. Madhavan,[55] Dhanush,[48] A. R. Murugadoss, Linguswamy, Ameer Sultan, Muktha Srinivasan, Salman Rushdie, Deepa Mehta, Salman Khan,[56] Abhishek Bachchan, Chitrangda Singh,[57] Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar,[58] Akshay Kumar, Mahesh Babu, Pawan Kalyan, Anupam Kher,[59] Karan Johar, A. Samad Said, Madhur Bhandarkar, Shabana Azmi, Shyam Benegal and Ketan Mehta.
"[60] Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi alleged that the inactivity of the J. Jayalalitha administration on the film is the result of wrath over Kamal Haasan who had recently expressed his opinion "on wanting to see a dhoti-clad Tamilian" for prime minister at a function in Chennai.
[61][62] Karunanidhi accused Jayalalithaa of being involved in a conflict of interest; Jaya TV, a television network closely associated with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, had previously placed a bid on the satellite distribution rights for Vishwaroopam, which Haasan declined citing a low offer.
[65] Tamil Nadu Brahmin Association (TAMBRAS) filed a complaint with the City police commissioner that the film contained scenes that offended the community and requested to be removed.
[66] A petition asking for a nationwide ban on screening the film citing some of the scenes offending the Christian community was dismissed by the Madras High Court.