With just days left for the release of Mari Selvaraj's Maamannan, the film is currently in the eye of controversy following the director's statements at the recently conducted audio launch. The event was attended by prominent Tamil film personalities, including actor-politician Kamal Haasan, who was the chief guest. In his speech, Mari not only expressed his adulation for Kamal Haasan's 1992 film, Thevar Magan but also shared the negative impact of the Bharathan directorial.
Mari said, "Thevar Magan is one of the reasons Maamannan got made. Before making Pariyerum Perumal, and Karnan, I rewatched Thevar Magan because I consider it a masterclass in screenwriting. However, I must acknowledge that the film also had a negative impact, especially in my own life. In fact, I couldn't determine whether the movie was right or wrong. Although I initially viewed Thevar Magan as just a film, I also recognised its ability to influence a community. Maamannan was born from the mixed emotions I felt, positive and negative, after watching Thevar Magan."
Thevar Magan, penned by Kamal Haasan, tells the story of the feud between two brothers, Periya Thevar (Sivaji Ganesan) and Chinna Thevar (Kaka Radhakrishnan). This feud transcends generations, and their respective sons Sakthivel (Kamal Hassan) and Maayan (Nasser), find themselves at loggerheads too. During the speech, Mari asserted that Maamannan is a reimagination of Thevar Magan, where he places his father, a person from the oppressed caste, in the titular role.
However, Mari's words became a topic of contention on social media where sections of netizens were up in arms against his comments. They took offence against his words and felt it was insulting to the legacy of the Thevar Magan, and its creator Kamal Haasan. On the other hand, supporters of Mari's sentiment argued that any film can be criticised, and nothing in cinema should be held sacrosanct.
The arguments continue to be quite the rage on social media, which is divided between the camps of Mari Selvaraj and Kamal Haasan, with both sections bringing up older tweets and statements to disrupt the others' views. While some argued that Kamal himself apologised for the film and the titular song, some brought up a video of the late Vannarpetai Thangaraj (Pariyan's father in Pariyerum Perumal), who spoke about how Mari slapped him to get a scene right. While the filmmaker did apologise to him soon after, such arguments and counterarguments seem to be never-ending on various social media platforms.
Maamannan, which stars Udhayanidhi Stalin, Vadivelu, Fahadh Faasil, and Keerthy Suresh is set to hit theatres on June 29. With music by AR Rahman, the film has cinematography by Theni Eswar and is backed by Red Giant Movies.