'Comali' trailer row: Producer agrees to remove controversial Rajinikanth troll from film

The trailer of Jayam Ravi’s Comali, which was released over the weekend, caught the attention of audience for its unique concept. Written and directed by debutant Pradeep Ranganathan, and tipped to be a comedy centered on a man who wakes up after being in coma for 16 years, the trailer shows Jayam Ravi taking a sly dig at superstar Rajinikanth’s political entry. This attempt at humour has not gone down with Rajinikanth’s fans on social media, who went on to trend the #BoycottComali hashtag.

Support for Rajinikanth has also come from his dear friend Kamal Haasan, who is believed to have reached out to the makers to express his displeasure over the scene. Information about Kamal lending support to Rajinikanth with regards to the Comali trailer row was shared by Murali Appas, filmmaker and Makkal Needhi Maiam spokesperson, on his Twitter page.

நம்மவர் அவர்கள் இன்று காலை
கோமாளி ட்ரைலர் பார்த்தார்
அதில் ரஜினி அவர்கள் அரசியலுக்கு வருவதை பற்றிய விமர்சனத்தை பார்த்தவர் உடனே தயாரிப்பாளருக்கு போன் செய்து இதை என்னால் நகைச்சுவையாக பார்க்க முடியவில்லை என்று கூறி வருத்தப்பட்டார்
நட்பின் வெளிப்பாடா
நியாயத்தின் குரலா

— Murali Appas (@MuraliAppas) August 4, 2019

Following this, the film's producer Ishari Ganesh has agreed to remove the scene which mocks the actor's delay into politics. Speaking to TNM, Pradeep, the film's director says, "We want our work to be enjoyed by everyone and we are happy with the response so far. But I got to know on Twitter that some Rajinikanth fans were not happy with the joke in the trailer. This film needs to be enjoyed by everyone. Keeping this in mind, we've decided to remove/modify the scene."

The director-producer duo also put out a video statement, explaing why they decided to remove or modify the scene from the movie.

Comali director Pradeep, in a recent press interaction, revealed that he’s a die-hard Rajinikanth fan and that through the scene he merely wanted to convey that he wished Rajinikanth had taken his political plunge sooner.

Comali, which is gearing up for release on August 15, also stars Kajal Aggarwal, Samyuktha Hegde and Yogi Babu in crucial roles. The film features Jayam Ravi as a school going youngster and in the latter portion of the film, he plays the character who wakes up from coma after 16 years.

Apparently, Ravi shed a lot of weight to play his character in the school portion in which he’s paired with Samyuktha. Hip-hop Tamizha is composing music for this venture with Richard M Nathan cranking the camera and Pradeep E Ragav editing it. 

(Content provided by Digital Native)