It all began when an old video clip from Vijay Sethupathi’s reality television show “Namma Ooru Hero” telecast on Sun TV, went viral on the internet.
Actor Vijay Sethupathi’s fan club has filed a complaint with Commissioner of Cyber Crime Department of Chennai, requesting them to take down disrespectful comments against the actor and his family on social media, following a viral video clip in which the actor is heard sharing a joke on a Hindu temple custom.
The complaint was filed by J Kumaran, President of All India Vijay Sethupathi Chief Fans Welfare Association, on Saturday. He has also sought for action to be taken to prevent such insensitive comments being made against the actor on the internet in future.
It all began when an old video clip from Vijay Sethupathi’s reality television show “Namma Ooru Hero” telecast on Sun TV, went viral on the internet.
The show itself ended in May last year. However, this particular clip from an episode that aired on May 13, 2019 has been doing the rounds on the internet, with the actor being showered with distasteful comments for hurting Hindu religious beliefs.
In this video, Vijay Sethupathi is heard sharing a light-hearted remark about a particular custom of giving idols a bath in Hindu temples. In all Hindu temples, when the idols inside the sanctum are given a bath, devotees are allowed to watch. After this, while the idol is being dressed, access to view is cut using a cloth screen and the decorated statue is revealed later.
“Seeing this, a child asks their grandfather why did they close the idol suddenly. To which the grandfather explains that the idol is now being dressed. The child quickly asks why they don’t show the idol getting dressed while they had no problem in showing the idol taking a bath?” says Vijay Sethupathi on the show while the camera pans to show the audience on the sets laughing.
The clip has now gone viral on the internet with many accusing the star of insulting Hindu customs.
The same joke that Vijay Sethupathi made on the show over a year ago, was in fact shared at least a couple of times by late comedy writer ‘Crazy’ Mohan. Fans of the stars were quick to point out the difference in treatment shown to the actor and the comedy writer.
#WeSupportVijaySethupathi @VijaySethuOffl @kumaran4567 @bulletvikki @soundar4uall @Deva8586 @rameshlaus @MakkalSelvanMFC @VijaySethuFans @ActorVjSethuFc @VijaySethu_com @VSPFC_Porur @TeamVijaySethu @VijaySethu_FC pic.twitter.com/6lfaeSfzpS
— Chennai Mavattam VijaySethupathi Fansclub (@chennai_vjs_Fc) May 10, 2020
On May 8 this year the All India Hindu Mahasabha from Trichy in Tamil Nadu filed a complaint with Trichy police, requesting the police to take action against Vijay Sethupathi for hurting Hindu sentiments. “He has insulted Hindu beliefs. The show was on the topic of ‘How to take a bath with limited water?’ What was the reason to have spoken about Hindu temples’ custom of giving the idols a bath and then decorating them?” reads their complaint.
Making a note that a war of words has been raging on social media recently, both for and against Vijay Sethupathi, the complaint filed by his fan club reads that some who consider themselves to be “guardians of morality” have been insulting the star and his family, quite unlike the morality they stand for.
“We live in an intellectual society therefore even though an individual’s opinions may be different or disagreeable, the opinion expressed should not disrespect another. Freedom of speech should not hurt another. We request you to remove the hurtful comments made against Vijay Sethupathi and his family and to also make sure that such comments are not made in future,” reads the complaint.
They’ve also requested for the viral video to be removed from the internet.