You might not have heard of Dinkan, but you cannot afford not to anymore. They are dangerous, well organized, and are promising to hurt anyone who hurts their sentiments.
“We are declaring war against you. If your movie releases, we will burn down theatres. Al Dinkoists State Terrorist Group.” This is just one amongst many messages that has been posted on Malayalam actor Dileep’s Facebook wall.
Dileep’s latest film Professor Dinkan, shooting for which is due to start shortly, is being trolled online by ‘Dinkoists’, who are supposedly followers of Dinkan.
Dinkoists have even formed a group on Facebook called Mooshikasena or ‘rat army’ through which they are trolling Dileep and the movie because they believe it disrespects their religion ‘Dinkoism’.
Just in case you are wondering if this is some kind of practical joke…
Yes it is. Ha.
Dinkoism is a satirical protest aimed at the different religious groups and communities who have taken exception to films and targeted them because ‘their sentiments are hurt’. Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam and Aamir Khan’s PK are some cases in point.
Protests outside Dileep's restuarant in Kochi
With the trademark Malayali sense of humour, Dinkoists are ‘trolling’ Dileep, and their comments are eerily similar to the ones made by people who are easily offended by movies.
“Dear Dileep, read Balamangalam at least once and understand Dinkan’s kindness. Then you won’t malign him like this. A peaceful Dinkoist’s appeal.”
“Learn about Dinkoism brother, then make the movie.”
Professor Dinkan is a proposed 3D film that will be directed by debutant director Ramachandra Babu with the script being written by Rafi. Dileep is reportedly playing the role of a magician.
Ok, so what’s the real story here?
Dinkan is a fictional mouse with supernatural powers and is a comic character that appears in the children’s magazine Balamangalam. The followers of this fictional character, which first appeared in 1983, are called Dinkoists.
According to the comic story, Dinkan the mouse was born in Kerala and got abducted by aliens who endowed it with heroic powers.
To know more about Dinkan, watch this video.
What is Dinkoism?
It is a (mock) religion that has evolved in the social media space and has been created by independent social welfare groups in Kerala. It celebrates Dinkan as the only true God, in an attempt to mock religions and the concept of saviours.
A parody religion, it is modelled on the lines of Pastafarianism (combining pasta and Rastafarian) from USA, which worships the Flying Spaghetti Monster as its deity and promotes a carefree view of religion.
A website on Dinkoism says that if Jesus or Krishna were God’s avatars, and were saviours, then Dinkan the superhero too has saved many people, thereby acquiring a ‘God-like’ status.
Jai Dinkan Baba!
