The makers of Mersal are probably heaving a sigh of relief after the Madras High court dismissed a plea to revoke the movie's censor certificate. It all began soon after the release of the movie. Mersal has a couple of scenes where the characters are shown criticising Digital India and GST, two initiatives by the Centre that the ruling party has put their full weight behind.
Displeased Tamil Nadu BJP leaders, lashed out on the star, Thalapathy Vijay, and the makers of the movie.
An advocate sought to revoke the censor certificate of Mersal on the grounds that the movie shows India in a poor light. The presiding bench of Justices MM Sundresh and M Sundar was having none of that and said that those scenes were just an expression of the movie, something that cannot be interfered by the court. According to the court if the petitioner was really concerned about the public and society then he would have tackled issues such as untouchability and women's safety. Instead the petitioner chose to go after a movie. A report in Times of India mentioned that court said that even today opposition leaders are criticising demonetisation. "Can the court pass a gag order against him from making such statements? This is democracy, and people have their right to freedom of expression, and this applies to films as well," the bench further added.
The court dismissed the plea stating that it was devoid of merit.
The controversies that have been plaguing Mersal since its release only helped the movie gain more publicity. Lot of actors, including Kamal Haasan and superstar Rajnikanth, came out in support of Vijay and Mersal. Even the scenes around which the entire fuss was created only went viral on social media.
Mersal is doing exceptional business in India as well as abroad and is inching towards Rs 200 crore. The Telugu version of the movie, Adhirindhi, was scheduled to release in the neighbouring states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh today but has been delayed. The new dates of release have not been announced as of yet.