Soon, only films praising govt will be legal: Chidambaram on Mersal row

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday attacked the BJP over its demand to remove dialogues in Vijay's Diwali release "Mersal" and sarcastically said that there could be laws for making documentaries which praise the government's policies.

In his tweet, he said: "BJP demands deletion of dialogues in 'Mersal'. Imagine the consequences if 'Parasakthi' was released today."

"Notice to film makers: Law is coming, you can only make documentaries praising government's policies," Chidambaram tweeted. "Parasakthi" was a strong critique of the prevailing socio-economic order in 1950's, scripted and written by DMK leader M. Karunanidhi, and in which the actor, late Sivaji Ganesan mouthed his powerful dialogue.

Tamil actor Vijay has come under attack from Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Tamil Nadu, one of whom has also sought to give a communal twist by raking up the actor's religion. The actor has been panned for his dialogues in the film that takes a dig at Goods and Services Tax and digital India.

However on Friday, BJP National Secretary H. Raja in a tweet raked up the actor's Christian origins.

"Joseph Vijay's hatred for Modi is 'Mersal'."

Raja said "Mersal" shows Vijay's ignorance in economic matters as the GST was not a new tax and the tax on liquor is over 58 per cent.

On her part, Tamil Nadu BJP President Tamilisai Soundararajan demanded removal of the dialogues relating to GST, digital payments and temples from the movie as they spread a wrong message.