New Delhi: Tamil film star Vijay – who previously kicked up a controversy for a monologue against GST in his movie Mersal – has deleted his tweets which showed him smoking a cigarette, for his upcoming film Sarkar.
This comes after the Tamil Nadu health department sent a notice to the director and producer of the movie and to Vijay as well. They were ordered to take down the movie poster from social media.
The original posters showed Vijay lighting up a cigarette, wearing sunglasses and a black jacket.
“No individual or a person or a character in films and television programmes shall display tobacco products or their use,” according to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). The law also says, “Promotional materials and posters of films and television programmes shall not depict any tobacco products or their usage in any form.”
Vijay’s twitter account now only shows the second and third looks of the film’s posters, (both of which do not show tobacco) – in one he is in a car with a laptop and in another, he is simply staring into space.
#Sarkar 2nd Look !! pic.twitter.com/XoiXHxleGQ
— Vijay (@actorvijay) June 21, 2018
Here is the Third Look of #SARKAR in case you missed it. pic.twitter.com/mbVFsYRgry
— Sun Pictures (@sunpictures) June 22, 2018
Former Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss had criticised Vijay for the posters. “You’ll look more stylish without that cigarette,” he tweeted in June. He also reminded Vijay of earlier promises he had made, to not smoke in films.
The violation was reported to the government’s state monitoring committee for violations of the Act, by the Tamil Nadu People’s Forum for Tobacco Control (TNPFTC) on June 22.
They appreciated the move of the government to clamp down on this violation but they said they are concerned as the poster has already been replicated in movie merchandise. “Lakhs of youngsters have popularised the poster and replicated it in the form of mobile cases, banners, cakes, badges etc. The movie poster has gone viral and remains popular among the youngsters. Withdrawal of the poster from digital and social media will not erase the destruction it has created. It will not reduce the curiosity the poster has generated in the minds of the youngsters,” TNPFTC stated.
They have asked the state government’s monitoring committee to do more than just this takedown, to take strong action against this violation, “so that the movie industry will do its part in upholding the tobacco control laws.”
The movie Sarkar is being described as a “political action thriller” and is slated for release around Diwali this year. The film is directed by A.R. Murugadoss.
Ramadoss himself, as well as his party, PMK, have been concerned about the depiction of tobacco in films. Even before this incident, Ramadoss’s father, the founder of PMK, had criticised Rajinikanth in 2002 for depicting smoking in his films. The comments led to disruption between PMK workers and fans of Rajinikanth. They have also criticised Rajinikanth’s son-in-law Dhanush for the same reason. Rajinikanth later publicly committed to not smoke in films and asked his fans to quit smoking as well.
Last year, Vijay’s movie Mersal became controversial as the BJP in Tamil Nadu objected to a speech he made in the movie against GST. They called it “inaccurate and misleading”. A fan of Vijay sent criticism against Prime Minister Modi in a private Facebook message, following the controversy, and was arrested by the Tamil Nadu state police.