After Mersal, Vijay’s Sarkar Courts Controversy

Ilayathalapathy Vijay seemed to have made it a habit of courting controversy. For the second time in a row, Vijay seems to have rubbed politicians on the wrong side. Vijay’s latest film Sarkar has proven to be his second Diwali bumper offer (after Mersal in 2017) to his fans, not only in Tamil Nadu but in the overseas box office as well. The film has been received well both by his fans and film critics as well.

Despite the film being a hit, it has not gone down too well with Government of Tamil Nadu. The Information and Publicity Minister of Tamil Nadu Kadambur Raju as well as the Law Minister of Tamil Nadu, CV Shanmugam have warned the actor as well as the producers of the film with strict action if some of the portions of the film are not removed from the movie.

Apparently there are some scenes which show Vijay criticising welfare schemes offered to people as freebies after winning the elections which was directly aimed at both the AIDMK and the DMK parties.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the ministers said that people will not accept these political motives which are misleading and leading to debates on national television and criticising the work of the Government and showing them in poor light.

The Information and Public Relations Minister Kadambur Raju also warned the actor saying that it is not good for an actor with over thirty years experience in the Tamil film industry to act in such scenes which belittle the Government.

It may be recalled that last year after Vijay’s Mersal was released, the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party was upset that film had scenes which mocked the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Digital India campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the launch of Sarkar’s audio, the usually reticent actor made a politically-tinted speech where he said that a Sarkar is formed after winning elections and we will form a Sarkar and only then we will contest--but he was quick to add that he was only talking about the film here and asked his fans to vote only if they liked the film.

When asked if he had plans to become a Chief Minister in real life, the actor replied that , “If I become the Chief Minister, then I won’t just act like one, but will do my job with sincerity, “he said, further fueling speculations of his entry into Tamil Nadu politics.

Meanwhile, the ministers' plan to bring this issue to the attention of the Chief Minister and have asked the producers and Sun Pictures to remove these scenes from the film, failing which they will chart out the next course of action. They are also considering booking the people associated with film, including Vijay under appropriate criminal sections for trying to incite violence through the film.

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