The Congress top leadership on Saturday took a dig at the Tamil Nadu BJP for demanding cuts in the Tamil Diwali hit film ‘Mersal’ over some of its dialogues on Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Digital India flagship programme of the NDA Goverment. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Tamil Nadu BJP's demand for cuts in the Vijay-starrer ‘Mersal’, asking him not to ‘demon-etise Tamil pride’ .
"Mr. Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don't try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal," Gandhi said in a tweet. The comments come a day after Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan demanded removal of dialogues in the movie which he termed as ‘untruths’ about the GST, rolled out by the BJP- led NDA government on July 1.
Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also attacked the BJP over its demand for the removal of dialogues critical of the GST in film. In a tweet, he said Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor quoted Rahul Gandhi's tweet and wrote,"Remember: @INCIndia stands for freedom of expression, in or out of power. Creative freedom is only safe in the hands of those who value it," he wrote.
"Notice to film makers: law is coming, you can only make documentaries praising government's policies," Chidambaram tweeted.
Superstar Kamal Haasan had also backed the film and showed his support. "Don't silence critics. India will shine when it speaks. Mersal was certified. Don't re-censor it. Counter criticism with logical response," Kamal Haasan had tweeted.
Tamil Nadu BJP leaders, including State chief Tamilisai Soundararajan and national secretary H Raja, strongly opposed references to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the just-released Tamil movie and claimed dialogues in it were ‘highly inappropriate’.
Against the background, Chidambaram tweeted, "Notice to film makers: law is coming, you can only make documentaries praising government's policies."
"BJP demands deletion of dialogues in 'Mersal'. Imagine the consequences if 'Parasakthi' was released today," the former Finance Minister said in another tweet.
‘Parasakthi’ was the debut film of yesteryear top star Sivaji Ganesan in 1952 and the dialogues were written by DMK chief M Karunanidhi, who was then a budding leader in the party and a screen writer.
Replying to the tweet, Tamil Nadu BJP leader and national secretary H Raja said if that were to happen, people would not allow the government to run temples by quoting a popular dialogue from it.
Raja was reiterating the stand of the BJP and right-wing outfits that the state government should stop administering temples and hand them over to devotees.
Raja also claimed that the film exposed Vijay's ‘hatred’ for Modi. Soundrajan, who has been opposing the references to the GST, in a tweet said, "MERSAl ridicules Dedicated Doctors disheartened/ambulance drivers shown corrupt/doctors should take 5 rupees while the actor gets croresIJIJ"
AISMK chief and actor Sarath Kumar tweeted: "A film which is CERTIFIED by censor board cannot be questioned. If questionable, why censor board at allIJ#Mersel."