Tamil Nadu minister compares Vijay’s Sarkar to ‘terrorist’ activity

Tamil superstar Vijay’s film ‘Sarkar’ is in controversy again as state law minister CV Shanmugam on Thursday compared it to a ‘terrorist’ activity. The minister has threatened to ‘take action against the actor and the team’, alleging that the film ‘attempts to pull down a democratically elected government’.

Stating his displeasure, Shanmugam said, as reported by NDTV, “Through this movie, an attempt has been made to instigate violence in society. It is not less than a terrorist instigating people for violence.”

It is to noted that another state minister, Kadambur C Raju, on Wednesday had threatened of consequences if objectionable scenes were not removed. Adding more, he stated that he would consult with Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami about taking action on the ‘Sarkar’ team.

Earlier, the health department of the state has sent a legal notice to AR Murugadoss, the producer of the film and Vijay for promoting smoking in the film. In the movie poster, Vijay can be seen smoking a cigar.

Within two days, Sarkar minted over Rs. 100 crore. The ‘objectionable’ scenes on which the state government is angry is of those where former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s welfare schemes were allegedly attacked. Scenes showing mixers and fans being set on fire are an obvious reference to her announcing freebies during election campaigns in 2011, claim Jayalalithaa’s fans.

On Thursday, AIADMK leaders protested outside a multiplex in Madurai against the film. AIADMK lawmaker Rajan Chellappa said, “We will continue to protest outside theatres till the controversial scenes and dialogues are removed.”

Earlier too, Vijay’s ‘Mersal’ was in controversy for allegedly promoting “misconceptions” about the central government’s schemes, including Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation and the Digital India campaign.

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