Makers of Sarkar, a political thriller starring Vijay, which has some scenes mocking former CM Jayalalithaa’s welfare schemes, have reportedly bowed to pressure, and decided to chop the controversial scenes.
Makers of Sarkar, a political thriller starring Vijay, which has some scenes mocking former CM Jayalalithaa’s welfare schemes, have reportedly bowed to pressure, and decided to chop the controversial scenes.
Theatre owners, fearful of the being caught in the crossfire between the state government and actors have reportedly asked the producers to cut the scenes. The famous Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai had petrol bombs throw at it during Vijay’s Kathiti.
The film will now be screened with a five-second video cut and audio muted at three points after protests and threats by AIADMK supporters.
Reacting to the outrage, Tiruppur Subramaniam of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association said: “Whenever there have been skirmishes between actors and political parties in the state, it has been the cinema theatres playing the particular actors films have borne the brunt of the attack. It is not good for our business as theatres attract large number of families and they will keep away (if protests continue). In case of Sarkar, we have told Sun Pictures, the producers, who have agreed to remove the so-called objectionable scenes."
The makers of 'Sarkar' had agreed to remove "objectionable" scenes and "mute" an apparent reference to the late J Jayalalithaa, the body said Thursday, as the movie faced a backlash from the ruling AIADMK over depiction of its welfare schemes and its leader.
The director Murugadoss tweeted yesterday that the police had come knocking at his door. Today, the director today moved the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail.
The court will hear the matter later today.
A political thriller starring Tollywood actor Vijay, 'Sarkar' has run into trouble over some scenes that allegedly criticise the previous Tamil Nadu government led by the late J Jayalalithaa.
On Thursday, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) workers tore the posters of the movie in Coimbatore, Madurai and Chennai. The protestors demanded the removal of certain scenes from the movie.
The agitated protestors also vandalized theatres where the movie was being screened.
Tamil Nadu Law minister C.V. Shanmugam has also condemned Vijay's recent release for allegedly attempting to instigate violence and also said that it is not less than a terrorist instigating people for violence.
The film, which released on November 7, minted over Rs. 100 crores within two days of its opening.
Tamil superstar Rajinikanth Friday lashed out at the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu for its protests against certain scenes in actor Vijay's Diwali release 'Sarkar', questioning the rationale behind protesting against a film certified by the Censor Board.
He "strongly condemned" the demands for deletion of scenes.
"It is against the law to hold protests seeking removal of some scenes from a Censor board certified film and trying to stall the screening and damaging the banners," he tweeted.
"I strongly condemn these," he added.
The AIADMK was up in arms against 'Sarkar' with senior AIADMK ministers demanding deletion of the contentious scenes, besides threatening to initiate legal action if the film crew failed to comply.
Law Minister C Ve Shanmugham said certain scenes amounted to inciting violence and warned of action.
While a theatre owners' body announced that the edited version would be screened from Friday afternoon, sources in the 'Sarkar' crew said a "compromise" has been reached.
'Sarkar,' produced by Sun Pictures, stars Vijay and Keerthi Suresh in key roles, and was released on November 6. It is directed by AR Murugadoss and has music by Oscar winner AR Rahman.
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 "A still from Vijay's Sarkar")
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