Congress taunts BJP over Tamil film’s GST joke

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP came under Congress fire on Saturday for demanding cuts to a Tamil film and claiming that the movie allegedly showcased “anti-Modi hatred” by mocking at the recently introduced GST.

A scene in the Tamil-language film Mersal shows a character delivering a fiery monologue in which he attacks the government’s failure to provide free public healthcare despite charging a national goods and services tax (GST) of up to 28 percent.

“Mr Modi, cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don’t try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal,” Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president, said in a tweet on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Murali Ramaswamy, who heads Sri Thenandal Films which has made the movie, sought to end the controversy by saying that, if needed, they will delete scenes that have caused “misunderstanding”.

Mr Gandhi’s comment come a day after Union minister of state Pon Radhakrishnan demanded removal of dialogues in the flick which he termed as “untruths” about the GST, rolled out by the BJP- led NDA government on July 1.

“The film producer should remove the untruths regarding GST from the film. He has assured me the offending scenes on GST and Digital India will be removed from the film,” said Mr Radhakrishnan.

The film, staring Vijay, is running to packed houses in the state. It had a gargantuan day one opening worldwide, and is reported to have earned Rs 22.5 crore from Tamil Nadu theatres alone.  

BJP’s Tamil Nadu president Tamilisai Soundararajan had on Thursday called for deleting the scenes which have reference to the GST and the digital India initiative of the BJP government.

Though Tamil superstar Vijay hasn’t yet reacted on the BJP’s demand for cuts in the movie, another superstar, Kamal Haasan, came out in support of the film. “Don’t silence critics. India will shine when it speaks. Mersal was certified. Don’t re-censor it. Counter criticism with logical response,” Kamal Haasan tweeted, wading into the controversy that erupted after the movie.

Congress leader P. Chidambaram joined Mr Gandhi in attacking the BJP. “Notice to film makers: Law is coming, you can only make documentaries praising government’s policies,” he said in a tweet.

“BJP demands deletion of dialogues in Mersal. Imagine the consequences if Parasakthi was released today,” the former finance minister said in another tweet.

Tamil film Parasakthi was a strong critique of the prevailing socio-economic order in the 1950s, which sparked a controversy. One of the highlights of Mersal is Vijay’s direct dig at the way the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as ‘Digital India’ initiatives have been implemented in the country.

A character in the film says that GST in Singapore is just 7 per cent and medical treatment is free, while in India it is 28 per cent and corporate hospitals continue to milk poor patients.