Bowing to political pressure, 'Mersal' makers decide to cut scenes on GST

Chennai: The producers of Tamil movie 'Mersal', which was released on Diwali, said on Saturday that they have decided to remove the scenes which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed to be showcasing "anti-Modi hatred".

The move comes after the BJP took objection to what it termed as "untruths" regarding the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the movie, starring popular actor Vijay, and wanted dialogues on the central taxation to be deleted.

Thenandal Studios Limited said the BJP's objection was justified from its perspective.

A scene in the movie shows a character delivering a fiery monologue in which he attacks the government's failure to provide free public healthcare despite charging a national GST of up to 28 percent.

The scene sparked an uproar among members of the ruling BJP who have called for it to be deleted from the film.

"The film producer should remove the untruths regarding GST from the film," Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan told reporters in Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu.

He said wrong information should not be spread through cinema and actors should not confuse people using the medium and try to derive political mileage.

Senior BJP leader H Raja also slammed the references to the GST in the movie in his Twitter handle and said it only exposed the lack of knowledge of economics.

Hitting out at the references, state BJP state unit president Tamilisai Sounderrajan had told reporters in Chennai on Thursday that "Incorrect references have been made in 'Mersal' about GST ... celebrities should desist from registering wrong information among people."

Fans of the popular actor should not support such incorrect references, she said and favoured removal of the dialogue referring to the central taxation, rolled out in July.

Read: Mersal gets Kamal Haasan's support in row over GST

The movie directed by Atlee was released on October 18, coinciding with Diwali festival.