Jai Bhim row: Vanniyar Sangam files case against actor Surya, director

Chennai: The Vanniyar Sangam, up in arms against the depiction of the Vanniyar community in alleged bad light in the Surya-starrer ‘Jai Bhim,’ on Tuesday moved a local court against the actor, director and the OTT platform which screened it.

The association filed a case before a local court in Chidambaram in Cuddalore district under different sections of CrPC and IPC, including defamation and promoting enmity between two groups and sought action against them.

The Vanniyar Sangam, represented by its President Pu Tha Arulmozhi, filed the plaint against producers Surya and his actor-wife Jyothika, production house 2D Entertainment, the film’s director T J Gnanavel and the OTT platform Amazon, before the Judicial Magistrate II, Chidambaram.

‘Jai Bhim’, released on November 1 in languages, including Tamil and Telugu, kicked up a row in Tamil Nadu with the Vanniyar Sangam and members of the community alleging it had portrayed them in bad light. The movie was released in OTT platform Amazon-Prime Video.

The row centers around a negative character, a police Sub-Inspector, being named as ‘Guru’ (Gurumurthy), an alleged reference to a prominent PMK leader and a former MLA, and showcasing the raging fire pot symbol of the community in a calendar, in the background, in one of the scenes.

While the makers replaced the calendar with that with a Goddess, Gnanavel had on Sunday said there was absolutely no intention of hurting any particular community and expressed regret to those who were offended.

The Vanniyar Sangam had on November 15 sent a legal notice to the makers of ‘Jai Bhim’, alleging that the flick tarnished the reputation of the Vanniyar community and sought an unconditional apology from them, besides Rs five crore in damages.