Actor Prakash Raj took to Twitter on Saturday to address the controversy around one particular scene in his recently released Tamil film 'Jai Bhim'. The actor posted a link of his television interview and requested followers to watch it.
The scene involves Raj's character IG Perumalsamy slapping a pawnbroker for talking in Hindi and asking him to talk in Tamil.
He tweeted along with the link, " "Opened up on the slapping controversy of #JaiBheem and more. Do spend a few minutes to read and share … keep supporting relevant cinema ... love you all #JaiBheem."
In the interview, Raj said, "After watching a film such as 'Jai Bhim', they did not see the agony of the tribal people, they did not see and feel terrible about the injustice, they saw only the slap. That is all they understood; this exposes their agenda. That said, certain things have to be documented. For example, the anger of South Indians on Hindi being forced upon them."
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Explaining the relevance of the scene, he added: "How else will a police officer who is investigating a case react when he knows that a person who understands the local language, chooses to speak only in Hindi to dodge the interrogation? That has to be documented, right? The film is set in the 1990s. If that character had Hindi imposed on him, he would have reacted this way only. Probably if it came across as more intense, it is also because that is my thought too, and I stand by that thought."
The actor also felt that the who idea behind the story was to show the agony of the tribal people and that should be the focus.
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"If the pain of the tribal people did not move them, then, all I say is: 'Unakku ivvalavuthaan purinju daha da, nee thaana avan? (Is that all you understood? Are you that kind of person?) There's no point reacting to such bigots. You know, I came to Hindi very late. I have also given back something to that industry. It's okay for us to have differences, we have to learn to live with them. The focus here is on the injustice. Let us be fair," he said in the interview.
'Jai Bhim' stars actor Suriya in the lead role and released on Novemeber 2 through Amazon Prime Video.
