Song insults deity, say Badagas, want new Tamil film 'Brother' release withheld
NILGIRIS: The honorary director of Nilgiri Documentation Centre Dharmalingam Venugopal has appealed to the state government to withhold the release of Tamil film ‘Brother’ stating a song in the film showed their deity in a bad light.
Citing the trailer of the song ‘Badagas Night’, Venugopal sent a letter to the chief secretary registering the community's objections. The film is scheduled to be released on Deepavali. “The song repeatedly defiles Goddess Hethey (Progenitor Grand Mother of the Badagas) revered by the Badaga community.
The Badagas are one of the oldest indigenous Dravidian communities of Nilgiris who have undergone a remarkable transformation. The Badaga diaspora unites every year from December to January to pay obeisance to Hethey. Even simple photography is prohibited on the occasion,” said Venugopal.
“The song is sung by Sunitha Sarathy, a gospel singer. People with vested interests could use this to stoke communal tension in the Nilgiris. As legal proceedings will bring negative publicity to the beliefs of the Badagas, we request the state government to direct film producers to immediately exhibit the movie to a select group of Badagas,” he pointed out.
Yukesh Saravanan, a Badaga youth and member of UNCCD, Youth Caucus Kotagiri, also sent a petition in this regard to district collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneru and SP Nisha. “It is an impish attempt to desecrate the spiritual regards of the hill community, which is punishable as badagas are benumbed of this release. We reserve the rudimentary right to call for action against those involved in transgressions against the community and its standards,” he added.
Further, the Federation of Badagar Associations led by A Bobblie Chennai has sent a legal notice to Prem Kumar of Think Music for using Hethey in the lyric of Badagas NIght, which is a Kuthu song.