Baahubali Dialogue Writer Apologises for Pagadai Usage

A day after a caste outfit attacked a Madurai theatre screening the blockbuster, its writer Madhan Karky apologised for the ‘offensive’ dialogue.

CHENNAI: A day after a theatre in Madurai screening the blockbuster period flick Baahubali was attacked by members of a caste outfit, the film’s dialogue writer Madhan Karky apologised for the ‘offensive’ dialogue.

In a statement on Thursday, Karky said that he had used the word ‘pagadai’ unknowingly and in a different context. He said, “I had used the term ‘pagadaikku piranthavan’ to mean a person born out of loss in a gambling game of dice. I did not know that it was the name of a community. In other scenes, the hero, who delivers this dialogue, is depicted as someone against casteism and even as a child, stands up for equality of all castes, against the norm of his nation. Such a protagonist would never talk ill of any caste. Our intention is not to speak ill of anyone. Just so that the invaders should not be equated to any caste or group, a new language was created for them.”

Though the film’s distributors and producer have not taken any action to mute the dialogue yet, Karky has taken that responsibility upon himself. “Now, I’m also taking efforts to remove the word that has hurt the sentiments of a community. The word will be removed from the movie soon. I’m sorry if anyone has been hurt,” he concluded.

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The New Indian Express
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