Veteran director Bharathiraja condemned the teaser of Santhosh P Jayakumar‘s adult horror comedy film Irandam Kuththu for its explicit content and requested the government and the Central Board of Film Certification to impose restrictions on it, in a letter published on Thursday.
Irandam Kuththu stars Santosh P Jayakumar, Daniel Annie Pope, Karishma Kaul, Akriti Singh, Motta Rajendran and others and is a sequel to the 2018 film Iruttu Arayil Murattu Kuthu by the same director.
— Bharathiraja (@offBharathiraja) October 8, 2020
“Cinema has broken caste and religious barriers and has also has imbibed honesty and courage in youngsters. It has fought for women empowerment. These are not normal achievements. Many artists have built this nest. I fear that the cinema industry that has maintained social responsibility along with the diligence to avoid any damage to the society has been ruined by the blanket called business. Cinema is also business, but it makes me sad to see a poster which depicts banana in an explicit manner. Is this why all the giants came together to build the cinema industry?” the statement read.
The 2004 Padma Shri awardee was referring to the poster of the film and the promotional teaser which released on October 7.
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The National Award winning director wrote: “Cinema can talk about different culture, way of life, but it can never be a place for explicit content. I am not someone who comes out calling films destroy culture but I want to maintain dignity in the house of audiences. I enjoy any film that has a good story line, I couldn’t watch the teaser of Irandam Kuththu without cringing. How many good families would have cringed while watching the teaser? How many youngsters would it have misled? How can a film teach lust to the audience? It makes me sad that freedom of expression has been misused, we could see worse things if this continues. Don’t the makers of such films not have women in their families? How can they not condemn this? I condemn this teaser. I would not want such a film in Kollywood. I request the government and censor board to impose restrictions on the film. We should not permit films that spoil culture. Aren’t there enough rapes, child rapes that we have witnessed? People should realise these kind of films only do bad to the society.”
“Do not exhibit a film that does social evils. How many rapes, child abuse? Is it not enough? People should realise that such films and thoughts only place waste on the plate,” he added.
Films like Great Grand Masti (2016), Grand Masti (2013), and Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3 (2016) have received flak for their offensive content.