Congress backs 'Mersal'

Amid brewing controversy regarding the Tamil flick 'Mersal', the Congress Party on Saturday extended their support to the film and its cast by taking to Twitter.

In his latest jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Mr. Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don't try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal."

Echoing a similar stance, Congress leader Kapil Sibal opined that Vijay, the male lead, "has every right to criticise GST, Digital India" via the film.

"BJP to decide what is wrong or right for us a new definition of free speech. Vijay in Mersal has every right to criticise GST,Digital India," he tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Actor Kamal Hassan also showed support to the makers of Mersal, and tweeted, "Mersal was certified. Dont re-censor it. Counter criticism with logical response. Dont silence critics. India will shine when it speaks."

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tamil Nadu chief Tamilisai Soundararajan condemned the 'misconceptions' being promoted in the film about central government schemes, including Goods and Services Tax (GST), demonetisation and Digital India, saying when celebrities talk about certain schemes it misleads the public and carries effect in the minds of the people.

Mersal is a Tamil movie directed by Atlee and co-written by Atlee and K. V. Vijayendra Prasad.