CHENNAI: The Hindu Makkal Katchi has demanded a ban on Bigg Boss Tamil and wants host Kamal Haasan as well as the show’s 14 participants arrested for ‘disrespecting Tamil culture’.
The party, in a police complaint filed yesterday at the Commissioner’s office, claimed that the men and women of the show used abusive language and are “75% nude.” Further, the complaint stated that the show indulged in satirising the sacred Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu. Given that children and senior citizens are watching this show, the party said such shows are responsible for the cultural problems plaguing the society.
Kamal Haasan, speaking to a popular TV channel, said: “I don’t mind being arrested. It’s silly. Should we then not arrest cheerleaders at a cricket stadium? We celebrate that. I’m mistaken to be a communist by the Hindutva group. I’m simply a rationalist. I’ve become their whipping boy and am growing new skin.”
He later organised a press conference as a response to the complaint and said: “Bigg Boss has been on the air for the past 11 years and people have never had issues with it. Perhaps they don’t know Hindi. The programme is even in Kannada and they understand this culture. Like how the society needs cricket, it needs Bigg Boss too. I think I am doing justice to the show.”
The actor looked back on his acting career and pointed out: “For the past 37 years, I have been upfront about things. I have done kissing scenes in Sattam En Kayyil. Adha vida Bigg Boss kalachaaram seeru kedu seiyyudha (is the culture of Bigg Boss worse than that)?”
Talking about the show and its participants, he shrugged off responsibility. “I am not responsible for what the participants on Bigg Boss speak. I haven’t given them a script. Maybe if I had done so, I could take responsibility.” Giving his guru K Balachander’s Edhir Neechal as an example, he added: “That film highlighted family-related issues and I think Bigg Boss is along those lines. The only difference was that KB scripted that film and, here, contestants are scripting their own dialogues.”
Taking a strong stand against the party, he pointed out that this has been a repeated problem for him. “Hindu Makkal Katchi repeatedly targets me because of the colour of the dress I wear. When Dasavatharam was released, those people enjoyed it. Now, they want me to go to jail.”
On the complaint, Kamal said, “I don’t have to respond to them. I believe in the law, I’ve confidence in the justice system. I believe it will protect me.”