Vanniyar Community Sues Jai Bhim Makers, Demands Damages in Crores

After being outraged by the wrongful depiction of the Vanniyar community in the Tamil film Jai Bhim, Pu. Tha. Arulmozhi, president of the Vanniyar Sangam, has sent a legal notice to the Jai Bhim film producers, director, and Amazon Prime Video.

The notice, which seeks Rs 5 crore in damages and a public apology, was sent to 2D Entertainment as well as the film's director-screenwriter T.J. Gnanavel and Amazon.

According to the legal notice, the name of the sub-inspector of police implicated in the custody death of an undertrial was deliberately changed from Anthonysamy to Gurumurthy, and he's constantly referred to as Guru.

The Agni Kundam (fire blazing from a sacred vessel) sign of the Vanniyar Sangam is featured in the calendar behind the sub-inspector of police who performs the crime in one of the sequences in the film. The creators of Jai Bhim deliberately ordered a calendar featuring the Agni Kundam for the year 1995, which is added to the notice.

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According to the Vanniyar Sangam, changing the villain's name to Gurumurthy, which resembles one of its frontline leaders, and projecting him as a member of the community by showing its Agni Kundam symbol implies that members of the community are prone to committing wrongs and engaging in illegal activities.

In addition to seeking Rs 5 crore in damages, the Vanniyar Sangam has asked that the film's defamatory sequences and allusions to the Vanniyar community and its emblem, the "Agni Kundam," be removed. It has also demanded an unequivocal apology from the film's makers and writer for harming Vanniyar's reputation.

Suriya had responded to the accusation by pointing out that the Jai Bhim unit had issued a disclaimer at the opening of the film, stating that the plot was purely inspired by a true incident and that the characters, names, and events were totally fictitious.