On Thursday, October 3, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court issued notice in a public interest litigation (PIL) against dialogues in Rajinikanth’s upcoming Vettaiyan. The petitioner Palanivelu, a retired Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus conductor, had pointed out that certain dialogues in the film’s teaser glorify extrajudicial killings by the police, often referred to as ‘encounters’.
Palanivelu further highlighted in the petition that: “Illegal actions of the police, that too the murders committed by them in the name of ‘encounters’, cannot be justified by the dialogue ‘encounter is not only a punishment, but also a preventive action to stop such crimes’.” Slamming this outlook as “unconstitutional”, the petitioner added that this would encourage audiences to value extrajudicial measures above legal recourse.
The petition was filed against the Tamil Nadu government, Vettaiyan producers Lyca Productions, and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Palanivelu had asked for an interim injunction against the screening of the film on its scheduled release date until the controversial dialogues were removed. He had also asked the court to direct the CBFC to change Vettaiyan’s UA certification (parental guidance required under 12) to A (adults). The Madurai Bench has now issued a notice to all three of them to file their responses.
Vettaiyan’s teaser was released on September 20 and the final trailer dropped on October 2. The film is set to hit screens on October 10. Vettaiyan boasts an ensemble cast comprising Rajinikanth, Manju Warrier, Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati, Ritika Singh, and Dushara Vijayan.
Palanivelu, in his petition, pointed out other questionable statements made in the teaser and final trailer. He highlighted how Rajini’s character in the movie is described as a ‘renowned encounter specialist’. “The word encounter denotes an action of police exercising self-defence by firing at or gunning down a criminal in the event they attempt to attack the police. As such, a policeman can meet such an untoward incident or ‘encounter’ one or two times in his service. No policeman can be a renowned encounter specialist,” he added.
“Though the leisure and entertainment media are apart from logic and reality, the same cannot be a reason to impart an anti-constitutional ethos in the minds of viewers,” the petition further reads, adding, “If this is allowed on the pretext that the movie is mere ‘entertainment’, the very foundation of the democratic setup would likely be eroded. If the above unconstitutional dialogues are permitted to be screened, people may soon ask for an ‘encounter’ solution in every criminal case rather than put the offender behind bars by judicial trials. In that event, the offender would become defenceless by losing their fundamental right to defence, ingrained in Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
Palanivelu also criticised Rajinikanth and the tendency of Kollywood films to promote hero worship. “We cannot underestimate cinema as mere entertainment … Glorification in cinema is a complex phenomenon that raises ethical, artistic, and social questions. Characters who engage in violence are portrayed as heroic, brave, admirable, and ‘larger than life’ despite their aggressive actions. In this upcoming movie too, ‘encounter’ violence is portrayed as a saviour of the people.”
The petition pointed out the influence big movie stars have on the lives of those watching their movies. “People have blindly followed punch dialogues rendered by stars like Rajinikanth which are irrelevant to the lives of ordinary people. Therefore, characterising Rajinikanth’s role as a ‘renowned encounter specialist’ would naturally promote ruthless Police Raj, rather than faith in judicial systems and other constitutional bodies.”
A larger reason for such a petition
Similar to other male Kollywood stars, this is not the first time that Rajini has been seen to glorify police brutality as heroism on screen. Whether it is his cult classic Moondru Mugam (1982) or more recent fare such as Darbar (2020) or Jailer (2023), these films follow the Tamil cinema formula of projecting fictional rogue cops who disregard judicial failsafes and carry out vigilante justice, as strong heroes.
It should be noted that nearly all the biggest male stars in Kollywood have done police officer roles that similarly celebrate custodial violence and extrajudicial killings as heroism.
However, what may have surprised many about the Vettaiyan dialogues celebrating police excesses was that it came from director TJ Gnanavel. He shot to critical acclaim with his second film, Jai Bhim (2021). Starring Suriya, Jai Bhim took a strong stance against police brutality as it recounts the real-life custodial killing of an Irular (Scheduled Tribe) man, Rajakannu, and the resulting legal battle waged by his wife Parvathi (called Sengani in the film). Suriya played renowned, now retired, Justice Chandru who in his advocate days in the Madras High Court represented Rajakannu and Parvathi. It may be recalled that while Jai Bhim was largely celebrated by fans and critics alike, many slammed the film’s graphic representation of violence done to a marginalised person’s body as voyeuristic.
Further, the petition against Vettaiyan comes in the wake of widespread outrage regarding rising extrajudicial killings in Tamil Nadu. There have been three such killings in the state just this year, of which two occurred in the capital city of Chennai. On September 23, a history sheeter identified as ‘Seizing’ Raja was shot dead by the police in Chennai. This occurred only a week after another history-sheeter, ‘Kakathoppu’ Balaji, had been similarly killed. On July 14, one of the accused in the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP president K Armstrong, Thiruvengatam, was shot and killed by the police near Madhavaram in Chennai.
These killings were widely condemned earlier by both the public and human rights organisations such as People’s Watch and Joint Action Against Custodial Torture – Tamil Nadu (JAACT). At the time, JAACT had said that according to their data, the shooting of ‘Seizing’ Raja marked the 16th such extrajudicial killing since the DMK came to power in 2021.
