Vijay's Mersal made Rahul Gandhi write to PM Modi in Tamil. Here's what he said

Why did the vice-president of India's main Opposition party write to the Prime Minister in Tamil about a Kollywood movie? Read on to find out.

 

IndiaToday.in  | Written by Ganesh Kumar Radha Udayakumar
New Delhi, October 21, 2017 | UPDATED 22:27 IST
Congress VP Rahul GandhiCongress VP Rahul Gandhi

It took a Diwali special from Kollywood star Vijay to make Rahul  Gandhi write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tamil.

You heard that right. Take a look.

So what does it all mean?

If you know what Rahul  Gandhi tweeted about Mersal earlier today, there isn't much that's new.

"Modiji, cinema is a deep expression of the Tamil language and culture. Don't make Tamil lose its self-respect by getting involved in the Mersal issue," the tweets above read.

The only thing that's different in the English tweet is the expression "demon-etise Tamil pride." It has been replaced by "lose its respect" in the Tamil version.

But why is the vice-president of India's main Opposition party telling the Prime Minister what to do (or not to do) about a Kollywood movie?

To understand that, we need to go back to Thursday, the day on which Mersal was released. That's when the Tamil Nadu BJP's president said some scenes showed GST and the Digital India scheme in a bad light. What's more, she wanted cuts to be made in the film.

A war of words followed. The DMK's spokesperson said BJP leaders were under the impression they were in North Korea, "where every scene of every movie must have the approval of (the) Supreme Leader."

Kamal Haasan backed Vijay. So did 'Ilayathalapathy's' father, the filmmaker SA Chandrasekar. Both artists pointed to the fact that the Censor Board had already cleared the film.

But on Saturday, Mersal producer Murali Ramaswamy said BJP leaders had been given an explanation. "If needed, we are ready to remove the scenes that are misleading," he said.

Meanwhile, the scene in which Vijay's character criticises compares India's GST with Singapore's, went viral.

WATCH | Official teaser trailer of Vijay's Mersal (Video courtesy: Sony Music India/YouTube)