Veteran Bharathiraja came out with a hard-hitting statement on Thursday, lashing out at the makers of ‘Irandam Kuthu’ for explicit content.
In his statement, the ‘Mudhal Mariyadhai’ and ‘Tajmahal’ maker said, “Cinema has broken caste and religious barriers and has also has imbibed honesty and courage in youngsters. It has fought for women empowerment.
These are not normal achievements, many artists have made films with social responsibility. I am afraid now cinema has become mere business. Cinema is also business, but it makes me sad to see a poster which depicts banana in an explicit manner.”
He said further: “Cinema can talk about different culture, way of life, but it can never be a place for explicit content. I am not someone who comes out calling films destroy culture but I want to maintain dignity in the house of audiences. I enjoy any film that has a good story line, I couldn’t watch the teaser of Irandam Kuththu without cringing.
How many good families would have cringed while watching the teaser? How many youngsters would it have misled? How can a film teach lust to the audience? It makes me sad that freedom of expression has been misused, we could see worse things if this continues. How can the women in the families of the makers not condemn this?”
Bharathiraja added: “I condemn this teaser. I would not want such a film in Kollywood. I request the government and censor board to impose restrictions on the film. We should not permit films that spoil culture. Aren’t there enough rapes, child rapes that we have witnessed? People should realise these kind of films only do bad to the society.”
Reacting to this statement, ‘Irandam Kuthu’ maker Santhosh P Jayakumar posted a still from Bharathiraja’s ‘Tik Tik Tik’, in which three actresses are seen in glamorous dress and wrote, “With all due respect to him Tik Tik Tik movie in 1981 la idha paathu koosadha kannu, ippo koosirucho…?.”
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