Why there is outrage on Suriya's Movie 'Jai Bhim'?

Ground Report | New Delhi: Jai Bhim movie controversy; Jai Bhim has been hailed by film critics as one of the most important socio-political Tamil films to come out in 2021, which has exposed the systemic injustice and brutality of caste-marginalized communities in Tamil Nadu.

Jai Bhim movie controversy

The film 'Jai Bhim' is based on an incident that happened in Tamil Nadu in 1993. The film about custodial violence against members of a tribal community is an Amazon Prime release. Vanniyar Sangam is the parent organization of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a political party in Tamil Nadu known for its anti-Dalit stance.

Jai Bhim is based on a real-life case of custodial torture of the Irula tribe. There is no evidence that the police officer in question was actually from the Vanniyar community in real life. But the main controversy against the filmmakers is the use of the Vanniyar Sangam symbol in a frame in the background with the police officer in question.

ALSO READ: Why #WeStandWithSuriya is trending?

In Jai Bhim, Rajkannu of the Irular tribe is wrongly accused of theft, arrested and brutally beaten, eventually dying in police custody. The police try to hide the truth which leads his wife Sengeni to seek justice with the help of lawyer Chandru. The film sheds light on the horrific treatment of people in the community who are often framed, tortured by the police, and do not have even basic government documents.

The film starring Tamil superstar Suriya was released on the OTT platform during Diwali and is in the news. On the other hand, controversy is also going on regarding this film. Objections are being raised on a scene in the film. Many people have demanded its removal. In one scene the character played by Prakash Raj slaps a Hindi-speaking person. So the man asked, "Why did you hit me?" In response, Prakash Raj's character says, "Speak in Tamil." (Jai Bhim movie controversy)

The controversy has escalated since then, and leaders of the Sangam and PMK have issued threats against the film's actor Suriya. Following intelligence inputs about credible threats against him, the actor's residence is now reportedly under police protection.

wrongfully criminal tribesmen

Jai Bhim is a brutal film by all accounts. In it, Suriya plays Justice Chandru, a lawyer who fought a legal battle against police brutality at the time on behalf of Sengeni (real name Parvati Ammal), whose family was badly affected by it, to say the least. . Parvati and her husband Rajkannu belong to the Irula tribe, which has traditionally been associated with snake-catching and healing.

The film is incredible in its depiction of custodial violence against wrongfully criminal tribesmen such as the Irula, who are often accused of theft and petty crimes, and are accordingly subjected to gruesome state-sanctioned, and even caste-critical, based, subject of violence is made.

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The systemic nature of this violence continues to this day - at the behest of organizations like Vanniyar Sangam and PMK. Although the film made no direct reference to the oppressed caste (one of its shortcomings, arguably), both organizations raged with the symbol appearing in a particular frame. He also objected to the police officer being referred to as "Guru", which he insists is a callback to late PMK leader 'Kaduvetti' J Guru.

Tamil actor Suriya's film Jai Bhim was released on Amazon Prime Video on November 2 in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. The actor played a never-before-seen role in the powerful courtroom drama. Currently, Jai Bhim's IMDb rating is 9.6 with 73k votes, and 'The Shawshank Redemption' has a rating of 9.3 with 2.5 million votes.

The title of the film translates as 'Long Live Bhim', a slogan popularized by the followers of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. BR Ambedkar was also the chief architect of the Constitution of India and the country's first law minister. (Jai Bhim movie controversy)

Why #WeStandWithSuriya is trending?

Tamil superstar Suriya was highly inspired by late actor Irrfan Khan’s career choices and took a leaf out of his acting process when it came to the socially charged drama ‘Jai Jai Bhim’. Now On Twitter, the hashtag ‘WeStandWithSuriya’ is trending. 

Twitter user wrote ” We support Social Justice, We support Humanism, We are against Casteism, We support Inclusiveness, We support holistic Development of this Society. We support Truth”

The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce on 15 November asked PMK leader and former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss to refrain from criticising the actor over his film Jai Bhim. In a letter to Ramadoss, South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce President Katragadda Prasad pointed out that Suriya had acceded to his request for removal of a symbol from the film.

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The actor tweeted on November 17, thanking his fans for their "enormous" support. "Dear all, this love for Jai Bhim is overwhelming. I've never witnessed this before! Can't express in words how thankful I am for the trust and reassurance you all have given us. Heartfelt thanks for standing by us," he wrote.

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