The makers of Silambarasan‘s upcoming Tamil film Eeswaran said that a video, showing the actor holding a snake, was fake after a wildlife activist on Tuesday complained to the Tamil Nadu forest department officials.
The video shows Simbu picking up a snake from a tree and dropping it inside a gunny bag.
Thalaivan STR 😎
SNEKE🐍
awesome look@SilambarasanTR_ #SilambarasanTR#Eeswaran#pongal pic.twitter.com/JvPDyISKNU— Prakash Str (@Prakash01951545) November 3, 2020
The complaint was filed against the filmmakers of Eeswaran by a Chennai-based activist. The complainant submitted the video and stills that were recently released. The stills show Simbu holding a snake that is around his neck.
Recommended
Talking to Silverscreen India, Chennai Forest Range Officer Clement Edison said, “We have informed the producers that we need to conduct an enquiry and they have confirmed that they will come. They are currently busy with the film’s shooting and they will come for an enquiry once it is finished.” He also added that since the filmmakers have claimed that the video is fake, it cannot be confirmed if the actor is guilty of handling the snake illegally.
According to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, snakes come under the Schedule II protection and are not allowed to be handled by outsiders. “If they want to handle snakes then they should have sought permission from the head of the department. Even if they did receive permission to handle snakes, there is no permission allowed for shooting,” said Edison.
The first look of the film was released last week. The poster featured Simbu standing in a field with a snake around his neck.
The film is bankrolled under Madhav Media and D Company banners headed by Balaji Kapa and KV Durai respectively. S Thaman will be composing the music for the film and Thirunavukarasu will be handling the cinematography.