CHENNAI: Having tasted blood in banning movies on the Sri Lankan Tamil struggle that varies from the stand of pro-Tamil politics; Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) apologists appear to be asking for more. Only recently, they ensured that a movie by acclaimed Sinhalese director Prasanna Withanage on sexual violence unleashed by the Lankan army on Tamil women during the civil war that was waged from 1983 to 2009 was pulled from the theatres. The reason being, the filmmaker was Sinhalese, this despite his sympathetic portrayal of the ethnic crisis.
Now, a Tamil film Pulipaarvai, on the cold blooded murder of Balachandran, youngest son of slain LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran, has run into rough weather even before its release.
The movie in the making, believed to portray the 12-year-old child as a hero handling weapons with ease, has raised the hackles of Tiger supporters, who claim that it will end up justifying the killing of the innocent boy rather than exposing the horrific war crimes of the Lankan government. The film’s trailer shows Balachandran in LTTE fatigue, with a pistol in hand receiving combat training.
Pro-Tamil outfits argue that it could be an attempt to depict the child as a heroic fighter, in the mould of a typical Kollywood flick, but it would be an utterly false portrayal of Balachandran, who was never trained in warfare. Well, they appear justified at being infuriated at this distortion. However, they could not wait till its release and make a judgment.
Leading news websites run by the Tamil diaspora has come out with articles condemning the film as an attempt to make profit out of the plight of the island Tamils. Showing Balachandran as an LTTE fighter would only lend credibility to the Lankan government’s defence that Balachandran was killed since he was an armed fighter of the LTTE, they maintain.
The brutal killing of Balachandran, while under the custody of the Lankan army, is on top of war crime charges against Colombo and the film’s depiction of the innocent child would be counterproductive at a time when the UN panel has begun a war crimes probe.
The trailer also has scenes which show Balachandran in LTTE camouflage when surrounded by the military, which too is factually incorrect, assert the Tamil outfits. Besides, the false depiction of Balachandran as a warrior would tantamount to support the charges that the LTTE was engaged in conscription of children.
“The film produced by Vendhar Movies and directed by Pravin Gandhi should try to give a true and realistic picture of Balachandran’s life, instead of trying to glorify him as a brave warrior,” one of the critics Raja Thirumagan S Senthilkumar said.
“If the objective was to portray the cold blooded murder of Balachandran with a humane touch, the producers should come out with a clarification about the film’s trailer,” he added.
The director should understand the seriousness of the issue that he is dealing with and avoid deviations from reality, even for the purpose of glorifying or attributing non-existent superhuman qualities to Balachandran, another critic said, adding that the plight of the Lankan Tamils should not be used for profiteering.
Clarifying about the trailer, director Pravin Gandhi said, “The scenes under question are part of a song towards end of the movie, after Balachandran’s death. The narrative does not show the child as an LTTE fighter. There are no scenes showing him as receiving training and holding arms. The song with ‘imaginary visuals’ has been added at the end to bring out the child’s courage. Neither was he afraid nor seen weeping before he was shot and this exceptional character in the face of adversity has been picturised in the song.”