Madurai Court issues notice to Rajinikanth's Vettaiyan team after retired bus conductor files petition against dialogues in film

Rajinikanth

Ahead of its October 11 release, Rajinikanth's 'Vettaiyan' has landed in a legal soup. On October 3, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court issued a notice in a public interest litigation (PIL) against dialogues in Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan-strarrer. The petitioner, Mr Palanivelu,a retired Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSC) bus conductor has raised legal objection against some of the dialogues in the teaser of the film. In his petition, he claimed that the film's teaser glorified extra-judicial killing by the police, often referred to as ‘encounters'.

Palanivelu further highlighted in the petition that, "Illegal actions of the police, that too the murders committed by them in the name of ‘encounters', cannot be justified by the dialogue ‘encounter is not only a punishment, but also a preventive action to stop such crimes'." He claimed that such dialogues encourgae unconstitutional activities and would shape the audience mind to feel that such encounters are okay.

The petitioner filed the petition against three parties- Vettaiyan producers Lyca Productions, Tamil Nadu government, and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

What has the petitioner asked from the court regarding the film Vettaiyan?

Palanivelu has asked the court for an interim injunction against the release of the film scheduled on October 10 until the controversial dialogues are not removed. He had also asked the court to direct the CBFC to change Vettaiyan's UA certification (parental guidance required under 12) to A (adults). The Madurai Bench has now issued a notice to all three of them to file their responses.

Other issues in the film pointed out by the petitioner

Vettaiyan is directed by TJ Gnanavel and also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, and Manju Warrier among others. The petitioner also pointed out other questionable statements made in the teaser and final trailer. He highlighted how Rajini's character in the movie is described as a ‘renowned encounter specialist'. "The word encounter denotes an action of police exercising self-defence by firing at or gunning down a criminal in the event they attempt to attack the police. As such, a policeman can meet such an untoward incident or ‘encounter' one or two times in his service. No policeman can be a renowned encounter specialist," he added.

"Though the leisure and entertainment media are apart from logic and reality, the same cannot be a reason to impart an anti-constitutional ethos in the minds of viewers. If this is allowed on the pretext that the movie is mere ‘entertainment', the very foundation of the democratic setup would likely be eroded. If the above unconstitutional dialogues are permitted to be screened, people may soon ask for an ‘encounter' solution in every criminal case rather than put the offender behind bars by judicial trials. In that event, the offender would become defenceless by losing their fundamental right to defence, ingrained in Article 21 of the Constitution of India."

The petitioner further highlighted the impact of cinema and its heroes on the audience. "We cannot underestimate cinema as mere entertainment … Glorification in cinema is a complex phenomenon that raises ethical, artistic, and social questions. Characters who engage in violence are portrayed as heroic, brave, admirable, and ‘larger than life' despite their aggressive actions. In this upcoming movie too, ‘encounter' violence is portrayed as a saviour of the people."

"People have blindly followed punch dialogues rendered by stars like Rajinikanth which are irrelevant to the lives of ordinary people. Therefore, characterising Rajinikanth's role as a ‘renowned encounter specialist' would naturally promote ruthless Police Raj, rather than faith in judicial systems and other constitutional bodies," he added.