Just a couple of days before its release, Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar's big-budget saga, 2.0, has run itself into a very curious controversy. The  Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has raised objection over the depiction of cell phones and cell phones signals being bad for nature and the human race. The movie shows that Akshay Kumar's supervillain, fed up with human's continuous addiction to cell-phones and how the signals affect the birds adversely, uses them against the humans itself, prompting the intervention of Rajinikanth's android character Chitti. COAI's main objection is 2.0 promotes “obscurantist and anti-scientific attitudes towards mobile phone, towers and mobile services.” Akshay Kumar and Rajinikanth’s 2.0 in Trouble Again! Cellular Companies Demand to Revoke Its Censor Certificate.

Though the idea was prevalent in the trailers, it is now that the COAI has raised their objections, clearly wanting to affect the release of the film. They have asked the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) to re-certificate 2.0 (Censors have passed the film with a U/A rating and no cuts). COAI has also sent legal notices to the producers, LYCA productions and Dharma Productions, though the production houses claim that they haven't got the notices yet. 2.0 Movie: Review, Box Office Collection, Budget, Story, Trailer, Music of Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson's Film

While CBFC won't be re-censoring the film, they have asked the makers of 2.0 to add a disclaimer at the start (which is a practice in every movie these days. LOL).  Tushar Karmarkar, Regional Officer (RO) Mumbai of CBFC, told Bombay Time, “Recently, some complaints have been received about the film 2.0. In this context, it is being clarified that the CBFC has already examined the film in the light of guidelines issued by Govt. under Section 5B(2) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the film has been certified under 'UA' category subject to certain modifications. The film carries a disclaimer mentioning that it is purely a work of fiction. Further, the disclaimer states that the filmmakers do not claim their film to be valid on grounds of any technical facts." Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar’s 2.0 Makers Move to Madras High Court to Prevent Its Online Piracy Issue.

2.0, directed by S Shankar, is reportedly made on a budget of Rs 600 crore, making it the most expensive film in India.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 28, 2018 06:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).