Vetrimaaran has tendered an unconditional apology to those hurt by his recently released Vada Chennai. The director says that it was not his intention or that of his team to offend sentiments and that he will remove the offensive scenes from the film in ten days’ time. Through a video, the director addressed the grievances of the fishermen and women who protested against the way they had been depicted in the film.
“It was not our intention to portray them negatively. All such scenes that have caused offence will be removed immediately. It will take ten days for us to get this removal cleared by the Censor Board, so I urge the people to please stand with us till then,” he said.
An advocate, Charles Alexander from Thirumullaivayil in Chennai, had also filed a Police complaint with the Commissioner’s Office against director Vetrimaaran. In his complaint, Charles says that Vada Chennai violates the law that prohibits usage of abusive and offensive words in public. Many characters in the movie use abusive words in the film, Charles said and this should be punished. He has sought an explanation from the Censor Board officer who cleared the film and also requested the Police to ‘make an example out of Vada Chennai and Vetrimaaran so that such instances are never repeated’.
A spokesperson of the film told Silverscreen that the movie team had been made aware of the complaints against it. “We are looking at ways to make sure that their grievances are addressed in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the movie.”
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He also said that the sequels to Vada Chennai will showcase the lives of the people in the area in a more realistic manner. “Two more films are in the offing. Both these will delve in depth to the lives of the people in North Madras and will portray this in as lifelike a manner as possible.”
Vada Chennai is Vetrimaaran’s most ambitious film yet. It released on October 17 after many delays during production. Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajesh, Andrea Jeremiah, Samuthirakani, Kishore and Ameer Sultan take on important roles in this film.