Thiruvananthapuram, March 31 With the RSS mouthpiece Organiser going berserk against both Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran over their new film Empuraan, Kerala BJP leader B. Gopalakrishnan slammed the latter’s wife as an Urban Naxal.
Gopalakrishnan on Monday asked Prithviraj’s mother, Mallika Sukumaran, to rein in his wife, Supriya.
Gopalakrishnan took offence at Sukumaran’s social media post where she said her son is being targeted by vested interests.
“The BJP in Kerala has only one thing to tell Sukumaran and that’s to rein in her daughter-in-law as she is an Urban Naxal,” said Gopalakrishnan.
Supriya is a former journalist who did commissioned programmes for the BBC. It was in 2006 that the two first met, and later they got married, and since then she has been his biggest supporter.
Even though by now the film has turned out to be a whopping hit with tickets practically booked, following the report that appeared in the Organiser, Mohanlal tendered an apology on Sunday, while Prithviraj just shared Mohanlal’s apology through his social media page, but he is yet to react.
While the BJP and leaders like Gopalakrishnan and the RSS in Kerala have come down heavily against the film and those behind it, the producers, in order to quell the filmmakers, have opted to make last-minute cuts to the movie.
According to industry sources, the revised version -- expected to be released in the coming days -- has removed a three-minute sequence depicting an attack on a pregnant woman.
Additionally, the villain’s name may either be altered or muted in the dialogues.
Meanwhile, the support base is also growing for the film as the State’s Minister for Cinema and Culture, Saji Cherian, after seeing the film on Monday, said this is a film which can only be made in Kerala.
“Full credit to Prithviraj for the film, and it should be seen in that manner only and nothing beyond it,” said Cherian.
Actor Asif Ali said he fails to understand why people just cannot see a film as it is.
“The film duration is around two and a half hours and is an entertainer. I fail to understand why people can’t see it like that. People who are scared to air their views in the open, do so by pelting stones from behind, and this is the same about social media, where comments are coming thick and fast,” said Ali.
Award-winning director Aashiq Abu said what one is seeing is very unfortunate and with fear.
“This has come against one of the biggest films in Malayalam. All know that Prithviraj has been under the close watch of the Sangh Parivar forces for a while,” said Abu.
Actor Jagadish, who saw the first show when it was released, found it hard to escape from the snooping media when they came to get his comment, and when asked about the film by IANS, he answered with his characteristic smile.
State Agriculture Minister K. Krishnankutty was walking into a theatre in his home district in Palakkad, and when the media caught up with him, he said he fails to remember when was the last time he watched a film in a movie hall.
“I am here now, and being a public figure, one has to first watch the film, as there is a big discussion going on. So let me watch it,” said Krishnankutty.
On Monday evening, the CPI-M state secretary M.V. Govindan and his wife were spotted in a movie hall in the state capital city just before the film began.
Overall, for the producers so far, the controversy appears to have brought in huge rewards, as with the news that there will be cuts to quell the anger of the Sangh Parivar forces, the crowds have swelled.
“I have seen it once, and now this is my second time, as one doesn’t know what the new version will be. I will be back once the edited version is released,” said an enthusiastic young man.
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