Filmmaker Selvaraghavan issues apology after facing flak over Periyar remark
Towards the end of the interview, the presenter asked if his movie has a veiled message as it pits God against a character called ‘Ramasamy’. After a long pause, the filmmaker nodded in the affirmative before saying ‘yes’.
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Filmmaker Selvaraghavan (file photo)Filmmaker Selvaraghavan has apologised over a remark he made during an interview on YouTube. To a question by the show presenter, the director conceded to portraying Dravidian ideologue and social reformer EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, in a poor light in his latest release.
In the interview, spanning 36 minutes, Selvaraghavan dwelt at length on various aspects of his latest film ‘Nenjam Marapathillai’.
Towards the end of the interview, the presenter asked if his movie has a veiled message as it pits God against a character called ‘Ramasamy’. After a long pause, the filmmaker nodded in the affirmative before saying ‘yes’.
The remark did not go down well with Periyarists and other pro-Dravidian activists who alleged that the director had insulted the Dravidian icon as the character in question, played by actor SJ Suryah, has been portrayed as the highest form of evil.
With the controversy blowing up on his face, Selvaraghavan took to Twitter on Tuesday to issue an apology. “Friends, I didn’t understand the question he put to me in that interview. Only after you pointed it out here did I understand the context. I should have been careful, my apologies,” he wrote.
நண்பர்களே ! அந்த நேர் காணலில் அவர் கேட்ட கேள்வி எனக்கு புரியவில்லை. இங்கு நீங்கள் சுட்டிக் காட்டிய பின்புதான் புரிகின்றது. கவனமாக இருந்திருக்க வேண்டும். மன்னிக்கவும்.
— selvaraghavan (@selvaraghavan) March 9, 2021
‘Nenjam Marapathillai’, a dark horror-comedy co-starring Regina Cassandra and Nandita Swetha, hit the screens on March 5.
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