Tamil Nadu Information and Publicity Minister Kadambur C Raju on Wednesday warned the makers of Sarkar, starring actor Vijay, to remove scenes that show people throwing away freebies provided by the state government, The Indian Express reported.
In a song called Oruviral Puratchi, people are shown throwing mixer grinders and wet grinders gifted by the government into a fire. Filmmaker AR Murugadoss made a cameo appearance in that scene.
Raju said the government would take necessary steps to remove the scenes if the filmmakers do not remove them on their own, The New Indian Express reported. “This is not good for an upcoming actor like Vijay,” he added. “I know people will not accept these scenes. It was brought to our knowledge and this was disappointing.”
Raju said the movie was produced by Kalanithi Maran, who is related to the family that runs the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. “...this itself shows the movie’s political motive,” ANI quoted him as saying.
“While there is no link between the Censor board and the state government, we were made aware of the scenes and we will hold discussions with the chief minister on the further course of action,” Raju said, according to entertainment website Silverscreen.in.
Minister for Higher Education KP Anbalagan said the public would not like it if the film tells them not to accept freebies.
This is not the first time Vijay’s movie has run into controversy for its political content. Last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party had objected to a sequence in his movie Mersal that was critical of the Goods and Services Tax and demonetisation while doctors in the state protested against how they were depicted.
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