Director Bharathiraja has tentatively postponed his project Kutra Parambarai, a film he had officially announced early this April.
Some sources have cited other commitments being the reason for the postponement – one of them is that he is making a film with Ritwik Varun, the son of director Vasanth, and actor Vikram’s nephew. However, there have been conflicting reports from the director’s side lately. When pressed for an answer, a source close to the director dismissed the news about the supposed film with Ritwik Varun. “He has a project but there’s nothing more to add. Others are all rumours,” said the source.
Kutra Parambarai has been marred with controversies for a few months now. Bharathiraja had been involved in a feud with another National Award-winning director, Bala of critically acclaimed films Sethu (2000) and Naan Kadavul (2009). The two sparred with each other over Bharathiraja’s accusation that Bala stole the story of Kutra Parambarai from him.
Kutra Parambarai is set in the 1910s when the British passed the Criminal Tribes Act in the Madras Presidency. The act branded a few castes as criminals, or more formally, “addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences”. Since they were described as “habitually criminal”, restrictions on their movements were imposed.
Kutra Parambarai loosely translates as ‘crime/criminal dynasty’. In Tamil Nadu, the Thevars caste had suffered under this Act, and many members of the community had died because of it. Bharathiraja, being a Thevar, had claimed that only he had the right to adapt the story into a film, as caste plays an important role in the issue.
Bala had held a press meet in a bid to acknowledge the hate he was receiving from Bharathiraja’s side. Responding to this, Bala said, “Firstly, Kutra Parambarai is not fiction. It is real history. And so they cannot claim that they have written the story themselves. Moreover, it is childish to insist that only he can make this into a film. Anybody can make a film on history. It is unjustified for Bharathiraja to claim rights over the film because of his ethnicity.”
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In retaliation, writer Rathnakumar, a close associate of Bharathiraja, also held a press meet, alleging that Bala sought permission to use a portion of Kootanchuru (the original name of Kutra Parambarai). “When we pointed it out to Bala that Kutra Parambarai is my story, Bala says he is not making Kutra Parambarai but is using a portion of Kootanchoru in his movie. But in reality, the story of Kootanchoru is nothing but Kutra Parambarai,” he said.
Although both the parties have remained silent over this issue for a few months now, it is unclear whether the feud has ended. Comments from both the parties are yet to surface, leaving room for more speculation and rumours.