Milk Causes ‘Churning’ In TN: Dealers Seek Police Cover After Actor Urges Fans To Celebrate Movie Release With ‘Gusto’

The Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Association on Wednesday (23 January) lodged a complaint with the Chennai City Police Commissioner seeking protection in the aftermath of a speech made by popular Tamil actor Silambarasan wherein he asked his fans to ‘celebrate’ the release of his next movie on 1 February by ‘pouring pots’ of milk over his cut-outs as abhishekam, reports The New Indian Express.

The association sought action claiming that Simbu’s speech was provocative. The video released by the actor was circulated on Tuesday (22 January) and features him making a plea to his fans to ‘not spend huge amounts’ of money to go see his highly anticipated movie, but rather buy their parents something.

"Some had claimed that I had released that video for publicity as I have only one or two fans. So, now I am telling you: celebrate my movie release like never before by erecting huge banners and cut-outs and pouring pots of milk. After all, I have only one or two fans, so who is going to raise questions if one or two fans celebrate,” said Simbu, sarcastically.

"We urged the police commissioner to give protection to milk dealers during the movie's release. Simbu's speech sounds like he is instigating his fans against fans of other actors. So, we urged the Commissioner to take action against Simbu on grounds of law and order. There is also usually milk theft before the release of movies as there are some fans who cannot even afford to buy milk. So, during this movie's release, we urged the police to give us protection,” said S A Ponnusamy, president, Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Association.

"We have been opposing such paal abhishekam since 2015. Over 25 per cent of Tamil Nadu cannot afford milk. But, so much milk is wasted during movie releases. This is not a sensible thing and should be stopped," added Ponnusamy.