Rajinikanth fans started trending #BoycottComali on Twitter after trailer release

Debutante filmmaker Pradeep Ranganthan found himself in the midst of a controversy when the trailer of his upcoming Comali starring Jayam Ravi was released on Saturday. The trailer features a scene where Jayam Ravi takes a supposed dig at Rajinikanth’s political announcement video, which later became the point of contention on social media. So much so that Rajinikanth fans started trending #BoycottComali on Twitter, and asked the director to apologise for the same.

Following strong reactions, propelled by Rajini fans, the makers have now decided to chop the controversial scene from Comali, releasing on August 15. “Rajini sir’s fans have expressed their displeasure about that particular scene. We don’t want to lose that section of the audience.Comaliis a fun film and we don’t want any negativity around it. So, we’re removing that scene from the movie,” confirms Pradeep Ranganathan, in a telephonic chat with The Hindu.

This decision was taken after the filmmaker consulted with his producer Ishari Ganesh and actor Jayam Ravi.

The Comaali scene: the back story

The scene in question has Jayam Ravi waking up 16 years after being in a vegetative state. When he isn’t convinced that it’s 2016, Ravi’s friend (played by Yogi Babu) shows him a clip of Rajinikanth announcing his political entry. To which, Ravi quips, “Who are you trying to fool? Isn’t this from 1996?” In defence of the video, Pradeep says he was quite taken aback by the response and that the intention was never to “hurt or offend Rajini sir’s fans”. He adds, “Most of Rajini sir’s fans took it in a lighter vein. In fact, there was a fan who said, ‘I’m a die-hard Rajini fan, but I enjoyed the gag. That was the most liked comment on YouTube.”

If anything, fans of Superstar need to take offence for a factual error in that scene - for Rajinikanth made his political announcement on December 31, 2017, and not 2016. Asked about this logical slip, the director says, “Yes, I was aware of it. We wanted to show a sensational news on TV, which is why we selected this clip. I admit that it was a cinematic liberty that I had taken since the story starts in November 2016.”

Comali has clocked in over 4 million views on YouTube and Pradeep says he’s quite happy with the reception. “Rajini sir made a hint about getting into politics in 1996. We have a character who wakes up after being in a coma and realises that Rajini sir had finally taken the political plunge. That is what we tried to convey through that scene,” he says.

Soon after the trailer created a huge uproar among fans, actor Kamal Haasan reportedly came in support of his friend Rajinikanth, and called up Ishari Ganesh to express his disappointment. Though there was no official word from Haasan — either in the form of a statement or tweet — Pradeep confirms that the star did speak with the producer.