Tamil movie starring Suriya is trending on Twitter over a scene that has landed the flick into a controversy. The scene features multilingual actor Prakash Raj who plays a cop in the film, slaps a man for “speaking in Hindi” and dictates him to talk in Tamil.
The particular scene has sparked a row on social media with many Twitter users citing the scene propagating anti-Hindi sentiment, whereas, others say the scene was not needed in the context of the film.
Social media users were divided over the scene with many claiming the scene to be unnecessary and spewing hate on the Hindi language while few alleged Prakash Raj using his propaganda in films.
A film critic tweeted, "I am really heartbroken after watching #JaiBhim, nothing against actor or anyone but felt bad, there is a scene in the film where a person speaks Hindi and Prakash Raj slaps him and tells him to speak in Tamil Honestly this kind of scene was not needed….Hope they cut it". Although many vibed with his viewpoints and said they were hurt seeing the scene, others said that Prakash Raj slapped the man in the scene as he was trying to “get away with speaking in Hindi" such that Raj’s character would not understand him.
To which someone replied, "Hi, the scene is not against Hindi-speaking Indians. The particular character tries to get away by speaking in Hindi (so that Prakash Raj wouldn't understand) and knowing this strategy, he slaps and asks him to speak in Tamil. Tamil filmmakers are not against the language Hindi".
Meanwhile, users also drew parallels to other such instances from the film where one or the other language was allegedly mocked.
"Dear Prakash Rai alias Prakash Raj, which article of the constitution provides rights to hit any individual just because he's not speaking Hindi or any Indian language? If that's so, how many Kannadigas should hit u for speaking in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu in other movies?", writes a user.
Many said the slapping scene isn't about 'Hindi imposition’, and Raj's character would have slapped the person if he had spoken in any other language.
TJ Gnanavel's Jai Bhim is a courtroom drama inspired by true incidents from 1993, following the life of Senggeni and Rajakannu, a couple from the Irular tribe. Rajakannu gets convicted by the police and later goes missing from the police station. Senggeni, his wife, takes the help of an advocate Chandru to seek justice for her husband. The film is released in Tami and Telugu and is streaming on Amazon Prime Videos.
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Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin praised the film and said that the film made his heart heavy all night long. He expressed admiration for advocate Chandru’s character whose real-life events have inspired the film Jai Bhim and said it reminded him of the time when he was in prison during the Emergency period in 1976. After watching the film in a special screening, Stalin took to Twitter to post that the film “had a huge impact” on him. He appreciated the entire cast and crew of the movie and said art should make an impact on the audience and bring a positive transformation in society.