Anbumani Ramadoss says that he’s open to the idea of a debate on the ill effects of smoking. The former minister will agree to be a part of it only if the Nadigar Sangam hosts such a meeting.
The minister’s assistant told Silverscreen that the minister believes that exchanging opinions through social media will not do justice to such an important issue. The event has to be convened by the Nadigar Sangam, in which all actors need to be present. It is only then that they can be educated by the ill effects of tobacco use.
He was responding to comments made by Tamil actor Silambarasan recently. The actor slammed Ramadoss’ criticism of the Sarkar poster and said that he would like to debate the issue with the minister. “I don’t think so much fuss should be made about every film poster that shows something. Take, for example, the Sarkar poster. There’s so much news about it, and not all of it is flattering. If the artistes don’t unite for such issues, then they will try to regulate us. Art cannot thrive in a strict forum,” he said.
STR is of the opinion that his comments may get misconstrued if he talks about it on social media. “I am inviting Anbumani uncle for a debate,” he said.
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The controversy stems from a poster for Sarkar that depicts Vijay smoking a cigarette. Shortly after, Vijay and his team were criticised by Ramadoss for promoting smoking. The former minister tweeted that Vijay would look more stylish without a cigarette. Shortly after this, the TN Public Health Department sent a notice to the movie team, asking them to remove all posters that show Vijay smoking. It took some time for the movie team to respond though ultimately all such posters were removed from their social media account.
Image Courtesy: Facebook Account of Anbumani Ramadoss