New Delhi:
Suriya starrer Jai Bhim, despite garnering critical acclaim, continues to court controversy ever since its release. Now, months after the release of the film, a Chennai court has ordered police to file an FIR against Suriya, his wife Jyothika and director Gnanavel under charges of allegedly misrepresenting the Vanniyar community in Jai Bhim. As per the petition filed by a Vanniyar group called Rudra Vanniyar Sena, the people belonging to the community have been portrayed in the bad light in the film.
The petition came up for hearing on April 29, 2022, and neither actor Suriya, Jyothika nor Gnanavel appeared before the court. The petitioner submitted to the court that several scenes in the movie have been shot “only to show the Vanniyar community in a bad light”.
The complainant alleged, “The scenes of the film depicted Vanniyar community, late leader Guru, as a wrong doer to the tribal community and thereby projected that the Vanniyar community is prone to commit illegal things.” He also claimed that the film contained scenes which create hatred against Hinduism and Vanniyars and incite communal disharmony.
Jai Bhim, which raised the hackles of the PMK, a political party in Tamil Nadu that represents mainly the Vanniyar community, is based on a true incident in 1993, involving a case fought by former Madras High Court Justice K. Chandru, when he was an advocate. Behind him in this legal battle was Sengeni’s wife, Rajakannu.
The film, which features Manikandan and Lijomol Jose in prominent roles, was released on Amazon Prime Video in November 2021, and met with positive critical reception. Directed by Tha Se Gnanavel, Jai Bhim was produced by Suriya and Jyotika through their production house, 2D Entertainment.
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