With the makers of Jayam Ravi-starrer ‘Comali’ wilting to peer pressure and opting to remove a sequence that pokes fun at actor Rajinikanth, Tamil film industry stakeholders wonder if such incidents could become the new normal...

Cricket is the biggest sport in India. Do you know what is the second biggest? Taking offence, if it were to be considered one.

Else, it is a bit difficult to explain the sequence of events that unfolded after the trailer for Comali — a film starring Jayam Ravi scheduled for release on August 15 — was uploaded to YouTube last week. Towards the end of the over two-minute long clip, Ravi — who, supposedly, plays the character of a man waking up from coma after 16 years in 2016 — is introduced to the new reality around him by his friend (played by Yogi Babu). The television is turned on, and we see a clip of Rajinikanth declaring to his supporters that he is entering politics. Cut to two days later in real life and #BoycottComali was trending in Twitterverse.

What went wrong? Of course, Rajinikanth made the announcement on December 31, 2017. But that did not set hardcore ‘Thalaivar’ (as Rajinikanth is referred to among his supporters) fans amok. It was Ravi’s reaction in the trailer. Upon watching the clip, he utters the words, “Aeey... ithu ’96... Yaara yemaathureenga!” (Who are you trying to fool.... this is from 1996!).

For the record, Rajinikanth never did drop a hint, let alone announce his intent, of entering politics 23 years ago. Not that it stopped media outlets and newspaper editorials of that era (and all the way until December 31, 2017) from speculating his political entry as an imminent next step. But a seemingly innocuous piece of screenplay in what is being billed as a comedy film came under fire from “sections of Rajinikanth supporters” (which the film’s production crew took pains to clarify in the days after). Besides there was pressure from Tamil film industry stakeholders. The end result? Comali’s makers assured that the sequence would be edited out in the film. (There is still no clarity on whether it will be completely removed, or reworked to suit the sentiments of aggrieved parties due to contrasting statements from Ravi and Comali’s director Pradeep Ranganathan).

Sentiment over sense

“I have made a conscious effort to maintain a clean and straight record, thereby not involving myself in controversial issues,” begins a statement issued by Ravi in the aftermath. It goes on to add: “... there is no way we would show such disrespect to him. To see that such an ideation without any deliberate intent has been receiving resentment and negative feedback from a section of his fans, we have decided to delete the portion in the movie (sic).”

Says actor Santhanam, who is not a stranger to brickbats for his unabashed style of comedy, that space for humour in the Tamil film industry has shrunk to unimaginable levels. “We are told that we can only do this much, and within this meter. There’s no workaround to this conundrum. The only solution is to go to another State and make films,” he laughs. Also, what makes tasteful comedy is idiosyncratic. “How do you measure comedy with a scale? Each one has their own mindset. Someone will laugh at double meaning jokes but you may not,” he says.

Playwright-turned-politician, S Ve Shekher (who has also served as a member of Central Board of Film Certification), attributes it to reduced tolerance level. “People can only poke fun at popular celebrities, and those who are made fun of should learn to take it as a credit. Knowing Rajini, I don’t think he would have minded this at all, and I know that boy Jayam Ravi. He has nothing to capitalise from by doing this, and he has got a lot of respect for Rajini,” he says.

Ravi does hint at the aspect of Rajinikanth being fine with the scene in his statement. “... he saw the trailer of Comali, and appreciated our team for the creative appeal and congratulated us for coming up with a unique idea,” it reads. At a media event for Comali held last week, its producer Ishari K Ganesh of Vels Film International remarked that he asked Pradeep (director) about the scene. “I asked him if he is trying to get me into misunderstanding with him (Rajini) but he convinced me that everyone is waiting for his political entry.” Of course, this comment was made hours before Rajinikanth fans suffered a Twitter meltdown. In its aftermath, Ganesh did a course correction.

Commerce over sentiment

“There is always a selfish reason,” begins actor R Parthiepan, when asked what he makes of such reactionary measures. “If someone ordinary would have made a fuss, there would have been no response. Clearly, the reasons are commercial. Why poke fun and lose the opportunity to sell 10 more tickets?” he asks.

G Dhananjayan, producer and founder of BOFTA film institute, concurs. “When lots of fans are taking objection, end of the day, it is the film that will suffer. But Dhananjayan did respond to outraged Rajinikanth fans on Twitter in a slightly different tone, notably tweeting — “It’s unharmful fun & not a troll. Be a sport friend.”

“But when the fans are being sensitive to what the filmmakers deem as naiyyandi (mockery), we have to respect it. I appealed to (Comali) production team to not turn people against them,” he says, adding, “This is the new normal. It will be challenging but people are not willing to be a sport.”

While Rajinikanth was never identified as the person who raised an objection, his peer (and supposed political rival) actor Kamal Haasan was. Ganesh confirmed the same in a video he released on Twitter alongside Pradeep Ranganathan. Kamal is said to have taken offence at the scene, and rang Ganesh to inform that he “could not see it as comedy.”

“But why would you expect Rajini to speak his opinion?” asks Shekher. “He is above all of this. He will ignore and will not respond. It is not his level of politics,” he says, adding in conclusion, “This is a case of the cadre being more loyal than the king!”