Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Empuraan row: ‘Why should I fuel Pinarayi Vijayan’s controversy?’

“I am a fan of Lalettan (Mohanlal), so I said I wanted to watch it,” Chandrasekhar said. “When there was so much talk about it, some people liked it and some people did not. Pinarayi Vijayan really liked it. Then I decided I would not go for the movie because I did not have that kind of motivation to watch it in such circumstances … Why should I fuel Pinarayi Vijayan’s controversy? The Congress followed as it is their habit to rush and follow the issues taken up by the CPI(M).”

The Kerala BJP chief said he and the party had “taken a position from the beginning that it is a movie and it should be seen as a movie” and insisted the controversy had been “manufactured”.

“I did not think it was a controversy in the beginning … This is a manufactured controversy. Perhaps it was a strategy of the producers to give it visibility and publicity. But we have been consistent that a movie has to be seen as a movie, a movie is not history. When history is distorted to make a movie with a creative license, there will be critical feedback from people. That is what is happening,” he said.

Emphasising that the BJP believes in freedom of expression granted by the Constitution, Chandrasekhar said others should respect the freedom of expression of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. “So if anyone from the party, or our supporters, or our ecosystem criticises the film after watching it, why should you take it negatively? It’s their opinion and they can express it. To me, the producers are re-editing it as they got such feedback. That is how I interpret it,” he said.

Asked how the movie received the clearance of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), four of whose members are nominated by the Centre, Chandrasekhar said, “It is an institution and you should ask them what their yardstick was when clearing the movie. They should answer. If one contradicts a view, it’s not a controversy, it is an opinion.”

Kunal Kamra controversy

On the Kunal Kamra controversy, Chandrasekhar said it was up to the courts to take a call. Pointing out that freedom of expression granted by Article 19 of the Constitution is not an absolute right, he said Article 19(2) places some reasonable restrictions on the right to freedom of speech and expression.

The BJP leader said he did not know the details of the case. “I do not know under which section the case has been filed. But if it’s a valid section, the court will uphold the petitioner’s view. If the defender feels he is right, his lawyer can get it dismissed … The court has to decide whether a particular case is in line with Article 19(2). The adjudicating authority in our system is the court. There is no contradiction. A comedian says something, the aggrieved party files a complaint, and the court makes the decision.”

FIRs have been registered against Kamra, a comedian, in Maharashtra for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. In a stand-up act, Kamra appeared to target Shinde over the split in Shiv Sena, calling him a “gaddar (traitor)”. Last Friday, the Madras High Court granted interim anticipatory bail to the comedian in connection with one of the FIRs.