Petition to revoke censor certificate for 'Mersal' dismissed

In a major setback for the opponents of actor Vijay starrer Tamil movie "Mersal", the Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a petition that sought revocation of the film's censor certificate.

A division bench dismissed the petition filed by lawyer A. Aswathaman, stating that the movie is work of fiction.

The court said it is for the viewers to decide and there is nothing in the movie to warrant a ban.

The court also wondered how a movie's dialogue would affect a common man.

The petitioner had contended that the movie had wrong information about Goods and Services Tax (GST) and also mocked at the Digital India initiative of the Central Government.

"Mersal" is in the midst of a controversy after the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the removal of certain dialogues which take a dig at the GST and Digital India.

Directed by Atlee, "Mersal" stars Vijay in the roles of a village head, a doctor and a magician. It is doing brisk business at the box office.

The issue got national attention with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi coming in support of the movie and taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the demand for removal of dialogues critical of GST in the movie and asked him not to "demon-etise Tamil pride" by such interference.

--IANS

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