Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday defended the protests against AR Murugadoss’ Deepavali release Sarkar which was a target of protests by members of the ruling party. The AIADMK had staged protests last week claiming that certain scenes in the movie insulted former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa.
“Any self-respecting party member will be infuriated if their party leader and the policies introduced by them is mocked,” the CM said, addressing the media outside Coimbatore airport. He, however, added, “It is wrong news that AIADMK members alone tore down banners. General public too expressed their dissent. And because of it, those scenes were removed from the film.”
When asked on the government’s gripe with the film already cleared by the CBFC, the TN CM stated that the matter has been ‘solved amicably.’
Going into the details of the other schemes that have been implemented by Amma’s government so far, the CM said, “The government provides free education for 1.84 crore students in the state. Free footwear, notebooks, bags, cycles, laptops… If they want to rebel against the government’s freebie schemes, will they forgo these? The higher studies education ratio that stood at 21% in 2011 is now 46.8%. How was this possible?”
He also questioned Kollywood’s contribution to people’s welfare, saying, “They make films with these exorbitant budgets. Where is all this money coming from? The tickets are overpriced and suck the blood out of people. What have they done for society?
Palaniswami also took a jibe against actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, who had spoken in support of Sarkar, saying, “He was someone who said he’d move out from the country when his film ran into trouble. How will he ever solve people’s problems? Having retired from the film industry, he’s thinking of trying his acting in politics. It surely will not work out.”
Vijay-starrer Sarkar, that released on November 6, has irked the ruling party for its take on the freebie scheme. After widespread protests by AIADMK members across the state, three scenes were altered from the film.