Chennai: Actor Vijay’s father SA Chandrashekar has hit back at the BJP for objecting to certain dialogues and scenes in his son’s latest flick Mersal, saying the party should not have a problem since the censor board cleared the movie.
The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP has demanded that Mersal producers cut "untruths" from the film on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Digital India mission.
Speaking to CNN-News18 on Friday, Chandrashekar said, “The central board has seen the film and approved it. They must have heard the dialogues in the movie but didn't ask for those dialogues to be scrapped. Why does the BJP have a problem? I'm not talking as Vijay's father. I am talking as an actor. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has members from the government I think. So why make it an issue?"
"A section of the BJP too had raised its voice against demonetisation and GST. So why attack Vijay now," Chandrashekar questioned.
The political overtones in the movie had even triggered speculation on Vijay’s entry into politics. Chandrashekar said the final call was up to his son, but added that Vijay’s fans wish to see him as their ‘neta’.
"Vijay has raised issues as he is a citizen of India. Every actor can express their thoughts and that is not wrong," the actor’s father said.
The much-awaited action flick hit the silver screen on Wednesday. The 2 hour, 50 minute-long movie contained many political messages and saw Vijay’s character questioning the rationale behind knocking liquor off the GST list, the obsession with digital payments and the freebie culture in Tamil Nadu politics. The song Alaporan Thamizhan also featured the row over Jallikattu.
Mersal had been facing problems even before its release.
The Animal Welfare Board had raised objections after learning that the film crew used animals during the shoot without permission. The production team then secured a No-Objection Certificate from the Board.
Earlier, the Madras High Court had passed an interim order restraining the movie’s director from using the title Mersal as another group filed a case saying they had already registered the title with the Tamil Film Producers Council in 2015. The case was finally settled in the first week of October.
The film’s release was then stalled due to the deadlock between the producers’ bodies and the state government over the levy of a local entertainment tax in addition to the GST. The movie hit the screens after the AIADMK government lowered the state tax from 10% to 8%.
Vijay had even met Chief Minister K Palaniswamy on Sunday ahead of the movie’s release.
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