'Jai Bhim' Director Apologises For Hurting Community, Says It's Unfair To Drag Suriya Into It

Despite the massive success and critical acclaim, 'Jai Bhim' courted controversy as it offended the Vanniyar Sangam and community members for 'allegedly' portraying them in a bad light.

While fans and people from the film fraternity stood up for the team, Jai Bhim director Tha Se Gnanavel has issued a statement, saying there was no intention of hurting any particular community.

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In his statement, he also expressed regret for those who were offended by his movie.

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Emphasising that there was not even a ¡°wee little bit of thought to cause affront to any individual or a community¡± in the making of the film, Gnanavel said,

¡°I convey my heartfelt regret to those offended and anguished.¡±

Expressing regret and the difficulties caused to Suriya in the wake of the controversy, who is the lead actor and Jai Bhim producer, Gnanavel said it's been unfair.

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The crux of the row is the alleged slander of the Vanniyar community by naming a wicked police sub-inspector as ¡®Guru¡¯ (Gurumurthy) and showcasing the raging fire pot symbol of the community in a calendar, in the background, in one of the scenes.

The foreground had the police SI who tortured the innocent tribal man to death. According to PTI, in a statement, Gnanavel said,

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¡°I did not know that a calendar hung in the background will be understood as a reference to a community. It is not our intention to make it a symbol of reference to a particular community, and it was only to reflect the period, the year 1995."

During filming or post-production, the calendar footage that appears for a few seconds did not catch their attention, he said. Also, even before the film premiered on Amazon Prime, it was exhibited for several people.

¡°Had it come to our notice during that time, we would have changed it before its release.¡±

After they ¡°got to know about the calendar in the background through social media,¡± after its release, all efforts were made to change it on the following day morning itself, he said.

¡°As the calendar in the background was changed even before anyone demanded it, I believed that everyone will understand that we had no ulterior motive,¡± the director said.

(Also read: Loved 'Jai Bhim'? Here Are 10 Multilingual Films On Real-Life Incidents That Deserve Your Time)

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He added, ¡°It is unfortunate to ask Suriya to own up responsibility. As the director, this is a matter I alone have to take responsibility for.¡±

Though based on an actual incident of custodial torture and death of a ¡®Koravar¡¯ tribal man in 1995 in Tamil Nadu, the film had elements of fiction. The film portrayed the tribal man as belonging to the Irula tribes.

The names of people connected to the real-life incident, like Justice Chandru, who had argued the case in the Madras High Court as an advocate, were retained.

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¡ª Gnanavel (@tjgnan) November 21, 2021

Some names like that of Rajakannu¡¯s wife (original name Parvathi, changed to Sengenni) and the police sub-inspector who tortured, leading to the death of the tribal man was changed from Anthonysamy to Guru (Gurumurthy). The calendar that was replaced had an image of Goddess Lakshmi.

When did the controversy begin?

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1. On November 15, the Vanniyar Sangam had sent a legal notice to makers ¡®Jai Bhim¡¯ alleging that the flick tarnished the reputation of the Vanniyar community and sought an unconditional apology from them.

2. Removal of references to Vanniyar community¡¯s revered symbol of raging fire pot, an apology for ¡°damning, tarnishing and damaging the reputation¡± of the community, desisting from similar ¡°malicious¡± moves.

3. They also demanded a payment of Rs 5 crore in damages were the demands made in that legal notice.

Who are the Vanniyars?

Vanniyars, or Vanniya Kula Kshatriyas, is a backward community in Tamil Nadu and are predominant in the state's northern districts. The Vanniyar Sangam¡¯s symbol is also the raging firepot.

Jai Bhim, which was released on November 1 in languages including Tamil and Telugu, was released on the OTT platform Amazon-Prime Video.

(With inputs from PTI)

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