Several people took to social media on Monday, November 15, to back actor Suriya after the Vanniyar Sangam state president issued a legal notice to the people behind Jai Bhim, including director TJ Gnanavel. The legal notice sought an unconditional apology and removal of scenes which they dubbed defamatory.
The legal notice alleges that in one scene of the movie, which is based on real life events, the character of a policeman has been deliberately depicted as belonging to the Vanniyar community, classified as a Most Backward caste that are politically dominant in northern Tamil Nadu.
The notice came after PMK leader and former Union Health Minister, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss had lashed out at the actor, accusing him of hurting his community's sentiments. Following this, many took to social media to express their support for the actor.
#WeStandWithSuriya
— Kavitha Muralidharan (@kavithamurali) November 15, 2021
The actor gave one crore for education of irular children and in his letter to comrade k Balakrishnan has talked about exploring ways to help the education of kuravar children.
அவரு கிட்ட தான் 5 கோடி நஷ்ட ஈடு கேட்டிருக்காங்க
This must be one of the first films to score 9.6 on IMBD. Any film that exposes the ugly reality about our society will be subject to controversy as we people like to push all the dirt under our carpets. #WeStandWithSuriya #Suriya #JaiBhimOnPrime
— Jogulamba (@JogulambaV) November 15, 2021
#jaibhim #weStandwithSurya pic.twitter.com/n70PuWmLyN
— pa.ranjith (@beemji) November 15, 2021
#WeStandWithSuriya for his brave efforts and good gesture towards society in these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/jUQJ3edQsG
— Manobala Vijayabalan (@ManobalaV) November 14, 2021
I Stand with @Suriya_offl #WeStandWithSuriya #JaiBhim pic.twitter.com/lpWt2RBa8O
— Hansraj Meena (@HansrajMeena) November 14, 2021
Actor Suriya appreciated CPI(M) and wrote that communist parties always supported oppressed people. He agreed to help Parvati (lock up death victim Raja kannu's wife, whose real life story was depicted in the film #JaiBhim) and deposited Rs 10 lakh in her name. pic.twitter.com/50o3l9x3Ab
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) November 15, 2021
Stand with #suriyasivakumar @Suriya_offl pic.twitter.com/z7yMPc5D8e
— சங்கர் கிருஷ்ணன் (@krish_itz) November 14, 2021
@Suriya_offl is one of the most humane and gentle person I have known. He has enough moral courage to take on anybody. #StandWithSuriya
— A RAJ M, SDB (@ARMTNPSC) November 15, 2021
Jai Bhim is based on the story of a tribal woman, Senggeni, who seeks the help of advocate Chandru (played by Suriya) to save her husband Rajakannu who is arrested on false charges. The rest of the film tracks Chandru's journey to unearth the truth and fight injustice.
Meanwhile, others named in the legal notice are actor Jyotika, who is also Suriya’s wife, 2D Entertainment Private Limited (Suriya and Jyotika’s production house) and a representative of Amazon.in.
In his response to Ramadoss earlier this week, Suriya had said, "Neither my team, nor I have ever harboured any intention at any point in time to insult any individual or community as mentioned by you in your letter. I hope you are aware that corrections were carried out as soon as some people pointed out mistakes."