Vijay in a still from Atlee directed ‘Mersal’.
Tamil actor Vijay has been under attack from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Tamil Nadu for his dialogues in the Atlee-directed film that reportedly takes a dig at two of the ruling party’s initiatives – the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and digital India. Another dialogue on temples has been viewed as being critical of the Hindu religion.
The latest political figure to wade into the Vijay-starrer ‘Mersal’ row is Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.
On Saturday, he tweeted:
Mr. Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don’t try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 21, 2017
READ HERE | ‘Mersal’ review: Vijay makes this entertainer seem terrific
One of the leaders also sought to give a communal twist by raking up the actor’s religion. On Friday, BJP National Secretary H. Raja in a tweet raked up the actor’s Christian origins. “Joseph Vijay’s hatred for Modi is ‘Mersal’.”
“Vijay dared to say that we should build hospitals instead of temples, will he say the same about churches, too? Why are only temples being referred to? In the last 20 years, some 17,500 churches and some 9,700 mosques were built in Tamil Nadu compared to just 370 temples built during the same period,” Raja told The Indian Express when asked why he made a reference to Vijay’s Christian name. The report also said that he was trying to find out the religion of producer Hema Rukmani of Thenandal Studios.
Raja also said that ‘Mersal’ shows Vijay’s ignorance in economic matters as the GST was not a new tax and the tax on liquor is over 58 per cent.
Tamil Nadu BJP President Tamilisai Soundararajan, on the other hand, demanded removal of the dialogues relating to GST, digital payments and Hindu religion from the movie – “What do they (the filmmakers) know about GST and its economics… such incorrect references”.
She told reporters in Chennai, “Incorrect references have been made in ‘Mersal’ about GST … celebrities should desist from registering wrong information among people.” Fans of the popular actor should not support such incorrect references, she added.
“When you make films, you do not follow rules but you criticise the government and the tax regime. They (actors) can’t fix the price of their movie tickets honestly. They can’t reveal the salaries they get paid. Or, they don’t pay taxes correctly. But they criticise PM Modi who faces no corruption charges and works 24 hours a day for people’s welfare,” the Indian Express report quotes her as saying.
Following the pressure, Mersal’s producer, Murali Ramaswamy of Sri Thenandal Films (TSL), has now agreed to remove these scenes from the film.
But there is no official word yet from TSL and Murali Ramasamy, the producers of ‘Mersal’.
What are the controversial scenes the BJP is demanding to be chopped?
In one scene, when robbers attempt to mug Vadivelu’s character, they find his wallet empty. Vadivelu thanks digital India for not leaving him in possession with any liquid cash – “These days nobody has money in their hand, it is all digital money and everyone is waiting in the queue.”
Vijay’s character, in another scene, claims that despite having low tax, Singapore is able to provide better medical facilities, whereas people in India pay a GST tax of around 28 percent, but they do not even get access to free medical treatment. He also raises questions about the imposition of 12 percent tax on medicines, which are supposed to save people’s lives.
Doctors miffed with ‘Mersal’
In a fresh twist to the controversy, doctors in the state protested against the portrayal of the medical industry in the film where Vetri and Maaran (both played by Vijay) fight against the medical mafia. Reportedly, doctors are sharing links of pirated versions of the movie available online, urging even paramedical staff to boycott the film in an effort to hit the film’s collections.
Protesting doctors alleged that Vijay in the film advised people to visit private hospitals rather than government due to the absence of good medical service in the government ones.
Yesterday, Tamilisai Soundararajan tweeted in support of the doctors’ stand: “MERSAL ridicules Dedicated Doctors disheartened /ambulance drivers shown corrupt /doctors should take 5rupees while the actor gets crores???”
Support pours in for Mersal
Earlier in the day, Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram attacked the BJP over its demand to dialogues allegedly satirising GST in ‘Mersal’ and sarcastically said that there could be laws for making documentaries which praise the government’s policies.
Notice to film makers: Law is coming, you can only make documentaries praising government’s policies.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) October 21, 2017
In another tweet, he said: “BJP demands deletion of dialogues in ‘Mersal’. Imagine the consequences if ‘Parasakthi’ was released today.” “Parasakthi” was a strong critique of the prevailing socio-economic order in 1950’s, scripted and written by DMK leader M. Karunanidhi, and in which the actor, late Sivaji Ganesan mouthed his powerful dialogue.
Actor Kamal Hassan on Friday also tweeted his support:
Mersal was certified. Dont re-censor it . Counter criticism with logical response. Dont silence critics. India will shine when it speaks.
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) October 20, 2017
Not the first controversy for ‘Mersal’
The release of the film was feared to encounter problems when Tamil Nadu producers and the governement faced a stand-off over the imposition of entertainment tax in addition to GST. The issue was resolved when the government agreed to lower the tax. Actor Vijay reportedly visited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy to thank him for the tax reduction.
The Diwali release had stirred a row even before its release, when it did not get an NOC from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) over the makers not being able to submit adequate documents to prove few scenes involving a pigeon and a snake were not shot using CGI. The scenes were trimmed before release.
There was an issue with the film’s title as well. The Madras HC had previously restrained the producers of the film from using the word ‘Mersal’ as its title, based on a civil suit filed last month by A Rajendran of ‘Film Factori’ production house.
The petitioner, had filed an affidavit in Chennai seeking an interim stay on the film after the production house, Sri Thenandal Films, trademarked the title Mersal without proper registration. He submitted that he had commenced production of ‘Mersalaitan’ in August last year, but was shocked to know that there was another film titled ‘Mersal.’
Later, the high court cleared all decks for ‘Mersal’s release with Justice Anitha Sumanth saying that the “entire case of the applicant is based on the premise of probabilities and assumptions – assumed right to the title, assumed prejudice to reputation caused by non-existent use of the film title and assumed deception by the respondents.”
The counsel for the producers Thenandal Studios Ltd and Sri Thenandal Films argued that the word ‘Mersal’ is a generic word in Tamil over which none could claim exclusive rights.
The registration of a title with the Tamil Nadu Tamil Film Producers Council is solely to serve the purpose of avoiding duplication of titles and does not create any other enforceable right over such title, the counsel had said.
Political whataboutery has little impact on ‘Mersal”s box office collection
‘Mersal’ marks the second collaboration between actor Vijay and director Atlee. The duo earlier worked together in ‘Theri’. The film has released in a record 3,500 plus screens across the globe and is receiving largely positive reviews.
The film has broken Rajinkanth starrer ‘Kabali’s record in receiving the highest opening day collections in Tamil Nadu.
By collecting Rs 31 crore on opening day, ‘Mersal’, Vijay’s has scored way above ‘Kabali’, which had pulled in Rs 23.3 crore last year.
The Hindu quotes Tiruppur Subramaniam, a leading distributor and exhibitor in Tamil Nadu as saying, “Yes, the first day collection of Mersal is somewhere between Rs 22 -24 Crore in Tamil Nadu alone. Clearly it has surpassed the opening of Rajinikanth’s Kabali and Vijay’s earlier film Theri .”
Source: The New Indian Express