Chennai: DMDK leader Vijayakanth’s plans to release the movie Thamizhan Endru Sol on election eve, has hit a road block due to his hectic political schedule and need for finances for the big budget film.
The actor is facing attacks from pro-Tamil outfits like Naam Thamizhar movement, which is saying that he is not a son of the soil and he had Telugu roots. The outfit, founded by film director Seeman, contends that lakhs of Telugus settled in Tamil Nadu during the Telugu Nayak rule, an extension of Vijayanagar empire and the actor’s ancestors were among them.
The DMDK cadre was eagerly expecting the film, stressing on Tamil identity and pride, to counter the propaganda of Tamil outfits which portray their leader as an outsider. Vijayakanth plays a key role in the film in which his son Shanmuga Pandian will be the hero.
The movie is set in the background of Lemuria continent, which according to Tamil literature, is the land of ancient Tamils, which submerged under the Indian Ocean more than 12,000 years ago.
Ancient Tamil epic Silappadhikaram and Iraiyanar Agapporulairai state that 49 countries, each of them similar to the size of the present Tamil Nadu, submerged under sea in a deluge around the first sangam age (10,000 BC).
In the film, Vijayakanth’s son dons the role of a marine science student who discovers details of the extinct continent called Kumari Kandam, where rivers like ‘Pagruli’ and mountains like ‘Kumari’ often mentioned in Tamil Sangam poetry, were said to have existed. The film is a big budget movie due to the settings and plot which need a lot of graphics and sets. Shooting for the film began three months ago, but key financiers had withdrawn from the film, resulting in a financial crunch.
Besides, Vijayakanth is busy in election works and is not able to focus on the project. The film’s release on election eve could have boosted the party’s campaign, but the news that its shooting has not been completed is a disappointment for the actor’s fans.
During his film career, Vijayakanth identified himself with Tamil nationalist politics and the slogan for his fan club, ‘Thamizhan endru sollada; thalai nimirndhu nillada’ asks Tamils to take pride in being a Tamil. He named his 100th movie and his elder son after LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and gave cash awards for poems published in Tamil weeklies in favour of LTTE’s struggle for a separate homeland.
