Offering special prayers and palabhishekam and extensive social media discussions are some of the common activities movie fans engage in to ensure the latest release of their favourite star is a superhit. In Karnataka recently, though, fans took an extreme step - a group of youngsters tortured a buffalo calf and slaughtered it, for the success of the Kannada film, The Villain, which stars Shiva Rajkumar and Sudeep in the lead.
The ghastly act was caught on video, which has emerged on social media. According to The Times of India, the video shows the youth tying the legs of the calf, tossing it in the air a few times and smashing it on the ground, all the while the men break into cheers and hoots. The calf is later beheaded.
In another video, a group of youngsters can be seen carrying the headless body of a calf and happily smearing its blood on the posters of the movie, which is propped on an easel. The body is then tossed on the ground. Another man uses the calf’s head to splash more blood on the posters. Later, two youngsters are seen proudly brandishing a long machete, wiping off the blood on the body of the calf and posing for the camera in front of the posters.
The identity of the youths and the place of the incident are yet to be confirmed.
Meanwhile, the makers of The Villain took to social media to condemn the act and requested the fans to stop such activities.
Actor Sudeep tweeted, “Brutality is inhuman. It’s my sincere request to stop all this. This is not the love or respect the team of The Villain would want to see. Stop this slaughtering act please.”
The Villain, which released on October 18, is an adaption of the relationship and the analogy of the characters Ram and Ravan. Directed by Prem, the movie stars Shiva Rajkumar, Sudeep, Amy Jackson and Mithun Chakraborty.