The use of certain words in the film ‘Bahubali’ had irked the members of dalit rights outfit. According to reports, they had hurled petrol bombs at a theatre in Tallakulam on Wednesday. They opposed to the use of the word ‘pagadai’ which means Sakkiliayar people (a sub-caste of dalit). One of the actor's in a crucial scene in the film had used this word.
Post the incident, the lyricist and dialogue writer has issued a statement and apologized for it. In an official statement he says, “I came to know through media sources that a word present in the dialogue of the movie 'Bahubali' hurt the sentiments of a few and that, this has led them to acts of violence. In the dialogue quoted to be the issue, "en thaayaiyum thaai naattaiyum endha pagadaikku piRandhavanum thoda mudiyaadhu...", I had used the term 'pagadaikku piranthavan' to mean a person born out of loss in a gambling game of dice. I did not know that it was the name of a community. In other scenes, the hero, who delivers this dialogue, is depicted as someone against casteism and even as a child, stands up for equality of all castes, against the norm of his nation. Such a protagonist would never talk ill of any caste. Our intention is not to speak ill of anyone. Just so that the invaders should not be equated to any caste or group, a new language was created for them. We have taken all possible efforts to avoid hurting the feelings of any group. Now, I'm also taking efforts to remove the word that has hurt the sentiments of a community. I'm letting you know that the word will be removed from the movie soon. I'm sorry if anyone has been hurt.”
According to Madan, the makers are trying to remove the word from the film at the earliest.
