#JaiBhim a tamil movie that released in OTT on November 2nd, 2021 has received mixed feedback and response from film, political fraternities and people. The movie based on the case Rajakannu vs State Government of Tamilnadu that happened in 1994.
The key truths that have been hidden, completely changed and certain communities, religions in the society are shown in a bad light. Below facts:
1. The actual name of the sub inspector character shown in the move - most inhumane behaviour as portrayed is Anthoni Sami (Link- Point 2 - 5th line). When the victim late Rajakannu's name was used as the actual name why the name Anthoni Sami was not used instead of Gurumurthy?
2.The original calendar shown behind the sub inspector's telephone conversation was the symbol of 'Vanniyars' association now replaced with Goddess Lakshmi calendar after pressure from political parties like PMK, various associations and social media posts, videos. If the calendar with a picture of a political leader or another person from a different community was shown will the concerned parties or communities keep quiet?
3.The director TJ Gnanavel states that the movie is based on the case Rajakannu vs State of Tamilnadu. The actual community of the victim is Kuravar community NOT Irular as shown in the movie. (Link). Parvathi (victim Rajakannu's wife) i.e Sengeni's character in the movie states in a youtube video that she is from Kuravar community and not Irular community. Links to various posts from 1.TimesofIndia 2.TheCommuneMag 3.Parvathi's Youtube interview (minute 11, 14.30) 4.NewsMinute
4.The communities were changed as Kuravar community was subject to historical injustice. During British rule in India they were placed under Criminal Tribes Act 1871, hence stigmatized for a long time, after Independence however they were denotified in 1952, though the stigma continues. Irular community as reported in various online sources state that some Vanniyar community people have attacked them in the past which is quite common in the state between different communities. So this Irular community (SC/ST) was used as the victim's community to show Vanniyar community in bad light. This doesn't justify to invoke people from different communities for a communal war which is punishable under section 153 and other relevant sections of Indian Penal Code.
5. The actual incident i.e. murder of Rajakannu happened in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu in 1993 but in the movie it is shown as the incident happened in a village Kammapuram in Virudhachalam town of Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu.
6. Why Govindan a communist party member who stood by the victim's family for 13 years is completely ignored is unknown? Possibly he belonged to the Vanniyar community. Also sessions court Justice Krishnamurthy whose verdict was upheld in High Court is also completely forgotten. The reason is only to project advocate Chandru as the hero of the story.
7.Movie was released on November 2nd, 2021 just before Diwali. Tamilnadu Chief Minister MK Stalin appreciates the movie in public (Link) and then visits a NariKuravar (tribal) family to celebrate Diwali (Link). Looks like a well planned PR stunt where movie and politics are blended well to get public traction. There are also pictures of EVR in the background which raises the doubts about the link between the movie and DMK party.
8. Director Vetrimaran states ' The commitment of director T.J.Gnanavel to make this film to let the world know the plight of victims and Suriya's constant efforts towards social justice, on and offscreen is truly inspiring. It's only natural these films cause angst amongst those who don't want the status quo change. #WeStandWithSuriya. '' So 50+ years of Dravidian parties rule has not brought social justice to the deprived communities and only a movie can change the status quo is a pathetic state of politics in the state.
9. How on earth by donating Rs.1 crore from another trust (Agaram Foundation run by Suriya) run by Actor Suriya to Irular community trust (Registration details of the charity not found yet) would help the affected/victim community i.e. Kuravar? So people who have donated for a different cause i.e. Agaram foundation , funds have been transferred to another trust. Has it been done after getting the permission of Agaram foundation donors? So Rs.1 crore was not donated from the actual box office/OTT revenue which runs into Rs.20 + crores - rough estimates from online sources. Not sure how a CM could appreciate a movie and endorse it when the movie has resulted in many controversies such as instigating caste based violence , showing a particular community in bad light and legal issues(Link)
10. Actor Suriya after social media posts and criticism donates Rs.15 lakhs to the victim's family. He or the film crew did not get the victim family's permission nor informed them about the movie being released. So the whole point was to take a movie, twist the facts, characters to suit political agenda and only show the advocate character as hero.
11. People like Raghava Lawrence should be appreciated for their honest efforts to help the victim's family. He offered to build a house for them after watching the movie before it resulted in a lot of controversies and appreciation.
12.The IG (Police) character — Perumalsamy ,played by Prakash Raj slaps a hindi speaking person when he talks in Hindi. If someone doesn't understand a language first a person will request to speak in a language that can be understood instead of slapping on the face. This scene is purposely included in the movie to appease certain political parties, agenda and to create a sensation.
In 1994 when the movie The Bandit Queen (based on Phoolan Devi) was released it resulted in various controversies and director Shekar Kapur and producer Channel 4 apologised to the victim and paid £40,000 as out of court settlement.
Facts are important if you are saying the movie is based on a true story. Author-activist Arundhati Roy in her film review entitled, "The Great Indian Rape Trick", questioned the right to "restage the rape of a living woman without her permission", and charged Shekhar Kapur with exploiting Phoolan Devi and misrepresenting both her life and its meaning. (Link)
If the biopic of a popular personality say for example Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni was wrongly portrayed in the movie or facts changed, would the concerned people keep quiet and not create a furore? Wont the directors get the permission and movie making rights from concerned people? So where is social justice done to Kuravar community and the victim's family, they have been treated in the same historic way by the #JaiBhim film crew.
Some film directors like Bharathiraja have written letters to PMK founder asking them to stop politicising the issue as it restricts creative freedom. Creative freedom is not purposely changing a character's name, religion, caste when a movie claims it is a true story. Karnan, a tamil movie which was released in 2021 based on the community clashes in 1997. The director was forced by DMK (Link) to change the date as DMK was in power and later changed to 'In the late 90's'. Where is freedom of expression here? Why didn't Bharathiraja and other film directors, actors kept quiet?
So how can one justify and support that the movie #JaiBhim is free from political agendas and does social justice? Real social justice is at least attempting to take the permission of the victim's family and pay them a fair share of the movie revenue which runs into several crores. Just donating Rs.15 lakhs does no justice to the victim Rajakannu's family when using their painful story to get rich and fame and give an opportunity to get political mileage for certain parties. Moreover this movie could instigate violence between various communities and result in permanent damage to certain community's reputation.
Creativity in movies is fine but when it is stated the movie is based on a true story/case with significant importance then characters, names, incidents, parties involved cannot be changed to appease certain people in the society and show some communities in bad light. True Jai Bhim is when political parties abolish castes, caste based vote bank politics and eradicate divisions in society and uplift every member from communities that didn't get the opportunity to step up in their lives socially and economically.
What cannot be tolerated is the social injustice done to the victim's family by not even informing them that a movie is being made based on the case Rajakannu vs State of Tamilnadu before netizens started asking various questions and some authentic youtube channels, media- non mainstream Tamilnadu media.
The author of this article has stated the above from his personal research on the topic and shared, stated views from various online media sources as well.
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