CHENNAI: Senior BJP leaders from Tamil Nadu have stepped up their attack against Thalapathy Vijay's 'Mersal' for certain dialogues by the actor mocking the Goods and Services Tax. The party's state president Tamilisai Soundararajan called for deleting the scenes that refer to the GST and the Digital India initiative. His demand was backed by Union Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan. He said, “The film producer should remove the untruths regarding GST from the film.”
In the movie, a sequence sees Vijay asking why India cannot provide universal healthcare despite charging a 28 per cent GST, while Singapore, which only charges 7 per cent could provide free healthcare. BJP national secretary H Raja, wrote a series of tweets directed at “Joseph Vijay” in an attempt to identify him by his religion, said the party would welcome criticism but not tolerate lies. “It is a blatant lie to say that healthcare in Singapore is free. In India, education and healthcare are free for the poor. 'Mersal' is the result of Joseph Vijay's hatred for PM Narendra Modi,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tamilisai said, “Wrong information shouldn't be propagated by big celebrities. It registers with the people.” While BJP seethes with wrath, the Opposition has picked sides with the movie-makers. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Su Thirunavukkarasar said, “It should be taken in a sportive way. People like those scenes and are enjoying it. People have been affected by GST. The film's narrative reflects this... In a democratic society, freedom of speech is important.” VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan said the BJP should protest against the Censor Board and not the film. CPI (M)'s State secretary G Ramakrishnan said the state government, acting in close tandem with the BJP government at the Centre, had unsettled the film industry.
The film has faced severe criticism despite seeing a record-breaking opening in cinemas and a successful run throughout the week. The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association rubbished the representation of doctors in the film as a whole, calling that of government hospitals in particular as “untrue and in cheap taste”. The association asked government doctors to ignore such movies and concentrate on dengue prevention work.
