The standoff between Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and actor Suriya has come to the fore yet again. Vijayvarman, the Cuddalore district secretary of the party’s student union, has written a letter to the Theatre Owners’ Association in the district, asking them not to screen the actor’s films. The PMK leader’s letter comes days ahead of the scheduled release of Suriya’s film Etharkkum Thunindhavan, popularly known as 'ET', which is due to hit the screens on March 10.
PMK student union's state secretary Vijayavarman has written a letter to the Theatre Owners’ Association asking not to screen Suriya’s films. The letter reiterates the party’s opposition to Suriya’s 2021 release Jai Bhim, directed by TJ Gnanavel and produced by 2D Entertainment. Jai Bhim, based on a real incident, centres on the life of Irular community people and the PMK cadres and leaders had taken exception to the manner in which the Vanniyar community was characterised in the movie, and had claimed that there was an attempt to malign the party.
“While advocate Chandru was portrayed in the same name, as all other characters except SI Anthonysamy, a Dalit Christian, who alone was portrayed as Gurumoorthy, a Vanniyar,” Vijayvarman has said in the note. “The police sub-inspector has been portrayed as a casteist and as a Vanniyar by showcasing the symbol of the community, agni kalasam, in his home. And they have portrayed the entire Vanniyar community people as casteists.”
He added in the letter that the film was made “to create caste rifts between Vanniyar and Irular community people,” who live in communal harmony. “Suriya who has depicted the Vanniyar community insultingly, and shown the community as people who indulge in atrocities. On behalf of PMK and the Vanniyar Sangam, I request that the films of actor Surya should not be screened in Cuddalore district until he publicly apologises to the people of Vanniyar community for continuously portraying Vanniyars in a derogatory way and as violent people in his films," the PMK student union has said in the letter.
Etharkkum Thunindhavan is directed by Pasanga fame Pandiraj, and stars Suriya and Priyanka Mohan in the lead. Arul Mohan, Vinai Rai, Sathyaraj, Saranya Ponvannan and others are also part of the cast. The original release date of the film was pushed to March 10 from February 4 due to the third wave of COVID-19.
The issue between PMK and the actor has been going on since the release of Suriya’s Jai Bhim, in which the party said that he allegedly insulted the Vanniyar community. Following the release in November last year of Jai Bhim, which was based on the life of Rajakannu, an Irular man who was killed in police custody. After its release, former union minister and current head of the youth wing of the party, Anbumani Ramadoss had written a letter to Suriya and the filmmakers claiming that the whole film had retained the names of all the real life individuals the film was based on, except that of the police officer responsible for the death of Rajakannu. According to Ramadoss, the name had been changed from Anthonysamy to Gurumoorthy with the deliberate intention of referring to a popular PMK leader of the same name. The character, Ramadoss claimed, had also been signalled as being from the Vanniyar community through the presence of the agni kalasam – fire pot image on a calendar behind his desk, which is also the symbol of the Vanniyar Sangam – the parent organisation of the PMK. The party had sent a Rs 5 crore legal notice to Suriya, Jai Bhim director TJ Gnanavel, Suriya and Joytika’s production house 2D Entertainment which bankrolled the film, and to Amazon Prime Video India on whose OTT platform the film had a direct release.
On November 14, a group of PMK cadres forced a theatre in Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu to stop screening a Suriya film. A group of PMK cadres raised slogans outside the Peerless Theatre on Park Avenue Road that was screening Vel, which stars Suriya. According to reports, they also stormed into the theatre manager’s room, following which the management stopped the film that was being screened.
Suriya had responded to the accusations at the time saying that no one associated with the film had any intentions of hurting any particular community, that there are disclaimers at the beginning of the movie, and that Jai Bhim is a feature film, not a documentary. TJ Gnanavel had also responded saying that the calender had been an oversight and the agni kalasam was later replaced with an image of god Lakshmi.