Call it an unfortunate coincidence, but another film that invited Muslim wrath and has been taken to court after a spectacular release is Thuppakki starring Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal, directed by A R Murugadoss. Kamal Haasan was reportedly shocked at the similarity between both films—Islamic terrorists and confrontations with the law. The climax of Thuppakki is the violent gunfight between supercop Vijay and a sleeper cell of terrorists, ending with all the extremists being shot dead. Vishwaroopam has a similar scene. The difference is that in Kamal Kaasan’s film all the terrorists are killed separately while in Thupakki all are shot inside a bus. After the film was released, 24 Islamic groups protested, claiming that it portrayed Muslims as terrorists and traitors. They demanded the offending scenes to be cut and the makers obliged immediately.
Thuppakki has been riddled with many controversies. First, its poster, showing hero Vijay holding a cigar in his mouth invited criticism, on the grounds of the Central government rule on tobacco use. Then a former assistant director went to court claiming that he had already registered the title ‘Kallathuppakki’ with the current film’s logo. “Thuppakki means a licensed weapon and Kallathuppakki means an unlicensed weapon,” pleaded the promoters.The case was subsequently withdrawn by the complainants. Then came another poster row in the media. A depiction showing the hero in uniform carrying Kajal Aggarwal was alleged to be a straight lift from the iconic poster of the 1982 Hollywood hit An Officer and a Gentleman. Murugadoss’s explanation was that he “stole” from the original poster because “sometimes, you admire something so much that sub-consciously it becomes a part of your work.” Murugadoss, producer S Dhanu and Vijay's father S A Chandrasekar apologized to 23 Muslim organisations. Chandrashekaran even clarified that Vijay will play a Muslim in his next film.
Later, Abdul Rahman, representing an Islamic outfit had petitioned the Madras High Court that the U certificate granted to Thuppakki be revoked and to ban it as it had alleged anti-Muslim scenes. The court refused to ban the film but the certification issue is still in court. The Madras High Court has posted the matter for hearing on Feb 28th.
The Sunday Standard