The Tamil Nadu wing of the Indian National League has condemned upcoming film, Seethakaathi. Abdul Raheem – the TN chief of the party, in a statement, said that the filmmakers must change the title of the film.
He said that Seethakaathi was a honourable man who served the Tamil people irrespective of their religion. Using his name for a film that is being promoted as a comedy will only damage his image in the eyes of the people, Rahim said.
“Seethakaathi alias Shaikh Abdul Khader was born in Keezhakkarai district of Ramanathapuram. He was a great man who served as the identity of the Tamil people. Even though he was a Muslim, he helped people of all religions. He helped many Tamil literary works get published and also used his money to make sure that the Seerapuranam could be heard by all.”
Rahim says that the INL came to know that director Balaji Tharaneetharan was making a film on Seethakaathi and that it was a comedy entertainer, as per an interview given by its lead actor Vijay Sethupathi.
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“Using the name of a great man such as Seethakaathi for an entertainment film is condemnable. We will not allow anything to adversely affect the historically important image of Seethakaathi and so we ask the film film team to immediately change the name of the movie. Vijay Sethupathi is a good actor but we cannot allow a entertainment film to bear the name of such a great man.”
Abdul Rahim says that they are prepared to fight this issue legally and through democratic protests if the film team does not accept their demands.
Seethakaathi follows a theatre actor, Ayya Aadhimoolam, played by Vijay Sethupathi. The movie is his 25th as an actor and will be released on December 21. Govind Vasantha composes the music for the film.