Dravidianists Crush Free Expression Once Again, And Are Given A Free Pass Once Again

Just last week we had the unseemly brouhaha around the Tamil film Annapoorani, which was yanked off Netflix following outrage that the film hurt the sentiments of sections of Hindus, especially Tamil Brahmins.

That a movie, duly censored and allowed by the authorities, had to be withdrawn is not a matter to be happy about.

It is besides the point that the film was a poorly made one, and its provocatory nature was just a ploy to play to the gallery in Tamil Nadu, and did not stem from an inner conviction for the avowed idea. But banning or stopping the streaming of a movie is never the solution.

Many big names in Tamil cinema put out tweets or statements condemning the fate meted out to Annapoorani's streaming.

Barely had the raucous ripples around Annapoorani subsided, this week a propaganda clip from Tamil actor Santhanam's forthcoming flick Vadakkupatti Ramasamy has triggered an unholy backlash. This time from the Dravidologists, who just the other day were shedding crocodile tears for Annapoorani's predicament. 

Now, Vadakkupatti Ramasamy, if you are a Tamil cinema consumer (you are one, if you are a Tamil), is a name that belongs to the comedian Goundamani hall-of-fame. It is one of the characters played by him, and in itself has become a comedic idiom and has been part of many million memes that the Tamil social media nation has come up with over the years.

As it happens, Ramasamy also happens to be the nom de naissance of the Dravidian rabble-rouser 'Periyar' (EVR).

The clip from the trailer of Vadakkupatti Ramasamy that has run into trouble has someone, in the background, asking the Santhanam character, which is bent and doing some preparatory work for some Hindu pooja, 'yenda dei, indha saamiye illainu sollitu oorukulla suthitu thirinjiye, andha Ramasamy thaana nee?' Loosely translated, it reads, 'aren't you the same Ramasamy who claimed that there is no god?' To this, Santhanam quips 'naan andha Ramasamy illa'. He answers that he is not that Ramasamy.

We do not know the context of this exchange in the film, which by the way is to be released by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) dynast Udhayanidhi Stalin.

The film, for the record, going by the flow of the trailer, may be more about a religious charlatan, which of course may end up antagonising another section of the political populace.

Yet Another Act Of Intolerance From The Dravidologists

But that is for another day. No sooner Santhanam shared the clip as a Pongal post on his social media timelines, than the bulk of Dravidian IT wing lackeys descended on him. Their contention was that the clip was against their Ramasamy (EVR) who made a long career of denying God.

Stung by the brunt of the vicious backlash Santhanam sheepishly deleted the post, while the Dravidian forces exulted in typical triumphalism.

Santhanam, for the record, can be said to be single-handedly salvaging Udhayanidhi's sputtering film career with his comic flair and one-liners. But then again, that is besides the point.

The thing is an evidently harmless and passing jokey line in a yet to be released film has evoked the umbrage of the Dravidian types.

Anyway, if you had expected the liberals and wokes of the Tamil industry — Vetrimaran & co, we're looking at you — to come out in protest against this threat to freedom of expression, well our response is: how amusing! 

These champions of free speech are phoney and always play the tune of the ruling dispensation in the state. 

The real matter to note is that when the right wing forces clamour for some ban, they are shouted down as fascists. But somehow the Leftists and the Dravidologists, who despite being no respecters of free speech and creative freedom, still get to pass off as shining liberals.

This double-standard is galling, especially when Tamil Nadu and Kerala are held up as some island of progressivism. It is a sickening sham, actually.

The Santhanam incident is not one-off. Just yesterday itself, we saw a Tamil online news outlet having to apologise and withdrawing a spoofy content as it was seen to be making fun of Tamil Nadu government's Pongal gift distribution at the ration shops.

Tamil Nadu And Kerala, No Islands Of Liberalism

Now, such fun caricatures are essentially the stuff of social media banter. It is the typical low-brow comic skit that somehow gains traction on the interwebs.

The DMK foot soldiers on X, however, saw nothing funny in it and they went hammer and tongs against it. In the event, the editor of the news outlet put out a quivering apology on his personal timeline and also announced that the video was being censored out.

But the Dravidologists were baying for blood as they wanted an official take down from the news outlet's own X handle. Again, the news outlet obliged. 

But alas, no liberal was sniffing with a wet tissue over the loss of freedom of speech.

Elsewhere, in the neighbouring Kerala, things weren't any better. The Leftist gang waded into the singing legend Chitra. Her crime? Well, the 60-year-old-singer Chitra spoke about the impending prana prathishta of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

A singer, who has sung a plethora of songs on Lord Ram with devotion, apparently cannot express her inner views on the Ram temple. 

One can understand not concurring with Chitra's views. But the vehemence of the attack on such a loved singer is staggering.  

Annapoorani will find support. Santhanam, Chitra and others will have to find a dark corner and weep for themselves.