No ban on Mersal: Madras HC

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a ban on Tamil superstar Vijay’s film, Mersal. The court said, "It is only a film and not real life. Freedom of expression is for all."

The filmmakers have come under fire for ‘criticising’ the Centre’s flagship schemes, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Digital India in the film. The High Court’s order comes a day after Vijay thanked his fans and supporters for defending his film.

“My colleagues in the film industry, actors, directors, producers, organisations representing actors, directors, some of the renowned national leaders, media houses and my friends have given (them) a befitting reply.

I thank all of them who supported Mersal,” he wrote, adding his full Christian name, C Joseph Vijay. The film’s producer Hema Rukmani had issued an apology to those offended by the scenes in the film last week, and offered to remove them. “If the movie has hurt the feelings of anyone, I consider
it my personal heartache and apologise.

We are willing to remove scenes or messages that may be seen as misleading or which might create misunderstanding,” she said in a statement. The ban was sought by a Chennai advocate who claimed the film the "shows India in a poor light" through its comments on health care and the new national sales tax or GST.

The victory over the ban apart, "Mersal" which means "stunning", did not release in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) as scheduled because the censor board has not yet cleared the dubbed Telugu version, though the producers have removed the dialogue that is critical of the GST, as demanded by the BJP.

The Telugu version, titled "Adhirindhi", was to release in 700 screens across the two states. The producers have not indicated the new release date.