CHENNAI: Activists of Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) on Sunday were arrested when they tried to stage a demonstration before director Gautam Menon’s house at Taramani to protest an alleged objectionable scene in his newly released Tamil film.
Carrying banners, 20 activists led by the HMK’s organisation secretary Kannan and State secretary Kumar proceeded towards the director’s house on Gandhi Street, demanding that a scene be deleted from his latest release Nadunisi Naigal. The said scene showed the relationship of the hero and his foster mother in bad light. However, they were arrested before they could reach Menon’s residence, sources said.
Kannan told reporters that foster mothers enjoyed pride of place in the Hindu ‘Puranas’ and epics. Krishna nursed a lot of affection for his foster mother Yasoda and so did Rama for Kaikeyi. Hence, the director must delete the objectionable scene from his film and express regret. Otherwise, his outfit would hold demonstrations before theatres screening the film, he said.
In his reaction, Menon said the film was based on a true story and the hero was a mentally affected person, who could not differentiate between right and wrong. The director clarified that the film was not intended to hurt anybody’s feelings.
On the demand for deletion of the scene, he said the film had been given ‘A’ certificate from the censor board and was meant for adults only. Since it was not doing well at the theatres, it would soon be making its way out and, hence, there was no reason why the scene should be deleted. Menon had earlier directed films such as Minnale, Kaka Kaka, Vetaiyadu Vilayadu and Pachaikili Muthucharam.