Malayalam film actress Priya Prakash Varrier has approached the Supreme Court for quashing criminal cases lodged against her by Muslim fringe groups claiming that a song from her maiden movie depicts Prophet Mohammad in bad light and the same hurts their religious sentiments.
The actress who is acting in the upcoming movie Oru Adaar love became an overnight sensation on internet after a song from the movie became viral on YouTube, showing her winking at a boy. The lyrics of the song Manikya Malaraya Poovi is taken from a Muslim traditional song of Kerala’s Malabar region and is popular among Muslim community as a song that praises the love between Prophet Mohammad and his first wife Khadeeja.
The petition filed by the actress and the film director challenged the FIRs filed against her to be a curb on the artistic freedom of speech and expression. Two FIRs have been lodged against her at Hyderabad and Maharashtra by fringe groups who claimed that the song had shown the prophet in bad light.
In her petition, Priya has prayed for quashing of the FIRs, saying, “The aforesaid song is originally from an old folk song from Kerala written in 1978 by PMA Jabbar and was first sung by Thalassery Rafeeq in praise of the Prophet and his wife Beevi Khadija.
It is hard to fathom that a song which has been in existence for the past 40 years, which was written, sung, and cherished by the Muslim community in Kerala is now being treated as insult to the Prophet and his wife. The claims that it (song) hurts the religious sentiments of the Muslim community are without any basis.”