The Congress flayed the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) for demanding deletion of remarks on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation in the Tamil movie ''Mersal'' (irrigation) released on Wednesday. In a tweet, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said, "Mr Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don't try to demonetise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal."
In the movie climax, popular actor Vijay asks a question that when the Singapore government which is getting 7% GST can provide free medical services to its citizens, why India which collected four times as much at 28% cannot do so. The scene continues to get thunderous applause in theatres but alas the producers have decided to chop it off to steer clear of the controversy.
In another scene, Vadivelu is seen making a dig at PM Modi's digital India and that may not be cut as it apparently skipped the BJP's attention.
When Vadivelu gets mugged, the robbers find his wallet empty. Vadivelu tells them that "These days nobody has money in their hand, it is all digital money and everyone is waiting in the queue." The BJP has objected to what it termed as "untruths" regarding GST in the movie and wanted certain dialogues on the central taxation to be deleted. "The film''s producer should remove untruths regarding GST from the film," Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan said.
Several senior BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu also accused the filmmakers of lack of knowledge of economics and spreading "incorrect" information on the GST and poisoning the minds of people. They demanded removal of scenes mocking GST.
In a taunting tweet, former union finance minister P Chidambaram said, "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." He added that BJP had created an unnecessary row over a movie. He was referring to 1952 Tamil movie ''Parasakthi" (The Goddess), whose screenplay and dialogues were written by M Karunanidhi (yes, the former CM), and which was released during the festive Diwali season, getting big acclaim despite portrayal of Brahmins and Hindu customs in poor light.
Sri Thenandal Films, producers of ''Mersal,'' however, announced on Saturday that they have decided to remove the controversial GST dialogue from the movie which has already run into many controversies before its release. The film encountered problems previously when a petitioner had sought interim stay on the movie's release. The film has broken Rajinkanth starrer ''Kabali''s record in receiving the highest opening day collections in Tamil Nadu. By collecting Rs 31 crore on the opening day, ''Mersal'' has scored way above ''Kabali'', which had pulled in Rs 23.3 crore last year.
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