‘Mersal’ does not have a separate comedy track, usually a must-have in Tamil films. There is no need as the it has been provided by the Tamil Nadu BJP. So, even if you have not seen the movie, you still get entertained thanks to the shenanigans BJP leaders from the state led by its president Dr. Thamilisai Soundararajan.
But for her objections and demands that the one-liners on GST and Digital India were incorrect and be removed, these rants by the hero would have been submerged in the flow of the film. Instead, they only whipped up an unnecessary hype – more than what the film’s producers had hoped for – and increased the film’s curiosity value and demand for tickets; so much so that even those who were not Vijay fans (including this writer), went to theatres to watch the movie and learn what the hullaballoo was all about.
The latest chapter in this running joke was when Siddarth Mani, an office bearer of the BJP’s Chennai unit, got suspended for watching and then praising ‘Mersal’ on his Facebook. He then came out with a pitiful retraction, only proving that he had been coerced into giving one. “When the movie has been cleared by the censor panel, which comes under the Central government, such silly reactions by the state BJP leadership have made them a laughing stock in the eyes of the public. By their overreaction they have made this into a fight between Vijay and Modi, which it definitely is not. I am sure that the Prime Minister or the BJP leadership is unaware of the negative publicity the BJP has attracted due to the immaturity of its state leaders. It is high time the state leadership is changed,” observed Srinivasan, a digital media expert and BJP supporter from the Prime Point Foundation.
BJP’s H. Raja, a national secretary, even gave a communal colour to the episode by alleging that since Vijay happened to be a Christian, he mouthed the anti-Centre dialogues. Raja only ended up looking foolish as in the movie as well its publicity material Vijay is actually seen wearing ‘vibhuthi’ (holy ash) on his forehead and a ‘rudraksh’ around his neck.
“People see Vijay as an entertainer and his mass appeal has also been due to his playing the average god-fearing (Hindu) villager. Vijay’s appeal cuts across caste and religious lines. So Raja’s angst is totally misplaced,” observed film producer and historian G. Dhananjayan.
Raja however justified his attacks, saying that the dialogues were patently wrong. “Vijay says Singapore collects only 7% as GST but gives free medical care. There is no such free medical care in Singapore. In fact central and state government hospitals in India actually give totally free medical care. He claims there is GST for medicines but none for alcohol, which is again a lie. There is no GST on liquor only because states have refused to let go off VAT, which is well above 40 % in Tamil Nadu, and the huge income they bring the states. Also the Modi government has actually brought down the price of life saving drugs and medical implants and curbed profiteering by private hospitals. When they target the central government instead of corporate greed, we need to clarify our stand,” explained Raja.
Raja refuted that the BJP’s attacks had increased Mersal’s collections and made the BJP look foolish. “When they use negative propaganda against the Centre to sell their films we need to counter it,” he argued.
But the demand of Raja and Union Minister Pon .Radhakrishnan for the removal of the offending dialogues and the censor panel that cleared them, did not find takers even amongst the BJP’s top brass. Sve. Shekhar, a former MLA and who headed the censor panel in Chennai for two years post-2014 asked how a film cleared by the censors can be re-censored again. “Out of the four panel members, three are nominees of the BJP and if they found nothing objectionable about the dialogues, why lose sleep over it?” he asked.
“Since films have a short shelf-life, any publicity, even the negative kind, is welcome as it brings in even the non-theatre crowd, which would have otherwise watched the movie on pirated CDs or on television. Many Muslims, who rarely go to theatres, actually watched Kamal Hassan’s ‘Vishwaroopam’ after Muslim groups protested against some of its scenes before they were edited. The ban and the delay in the film’s release actually boosted its box office collections,” pointed out film trade expert Sreedhar Pillai.
Likewise, thanks to the BJP’s anti-Mersal propaganda the film is all set to become Vijay’s biggest hit ever not only in India but internationally as well. The film raked in Rs 150 crores in its first five days which translates into Rs 42 crores towards GST (28%) and Rs. 12 crores towards Entertainment Tax (8 %). Maybe it is time the TN BJP sent out a bill for marketing the movie.
Pictures courtesy: @MersalFilm on Twitter
