In a segment that aired earlier today on the Sun Music television channel, two video jockeys – Sangeetha and Nivedhitha – joked about actor Suriya Sivakumar’s height, drawing loud condemnation from the Tamil film fraternity. Discussing Suriya’s upcoming films, the hosts discussed how Amitabh Bachchan has been approached to act in Suriya’s next film directed by KV Anand and wondered aloud about how the two would look together on screen, with remarks about high-heeled shoes and exaggerated neck stretching to get their point across.
Their point? Bachchan is 6′ 2″, Suriya is 5′ 7″, about as tall as the average Tamil hero.
Suriya’s height – perhaps unfairly – has been the subject of ribbing before, and the actor himself made self-deprecating references to his stature in the recently released Thaana Serndha Kootam. What the anchors did in this case was to bring a tired old cliche to television, the segment made for boring viewing.
Equally tired perhaps was the reaction of the film fraternity to the segment, with several issuing puzzling statements condemning the anchors. Vishal Krishna, the president of the Nadigar Sangam, described the comments as “unethical and senseless,” and actor Karunakaran called the anchors out of their lack of skills.
Funny !! ???? Absolutely not. How unethical in the name of sense of humour. Totally senseless. pic.twitter.com/0e4netQd6s
— Vishal (@VishalKOfficial) January 18, 2018
When you dont have skills to run a show dont be stupids plz https://t.co/X3Ap5l8rRF
— Karunakaran (@actorkaruna) January 18, 2018
Producer SR Prabhu chimed in too, asking why nobody at Sun TV was interested in the size of the brain.
அங்க யாருக்கும் மூளை வளர்ச்சியப் பத்தியெல்லாம் அக்கறை இல்லையா? @SunMusic https://t.co/vmlUAF0iGH
— S.R.Prabhu (@prabhu_sr) January 18, 2018
The tweets – including some from celebrity promoters – set off a chain reaction. Several fans reacted with vitriol, issuing “last warnings” and threatening the VJs on Twitter with comments like “alinju poyiruve” (You will be destroyed).
The two VJs have not reacted to the controversy so far and there has been no statement from Sun Music yet. Suriya, however, stood tall among the mess, choosing to ignore the controversy.
