Telugu filmmaker Venky Atluri, the director of Dhanush-starrer Sir (titled Vaathi in Tamil), said in an interview that he believes reservation based on caste in education should be abolished. The controversial statement has angered many people on social media, who called the director out for being ignorant of caste oppression and the social realities necessitating caste-based reservation. Ironically, Sir starring Dhanush and Samyuktha, talks about reforms in the education system to ensure good education is accessible to everyone. The film released on Friday, February 17.
Venky made the controversial statement in a recent interview with journalist Prema to promote the film Sir. Prema asked Venky a hypothetical question about a key decision he would make if he became the Union Education Minister. Prefacing his response by saying it could be “a little controversial,” Venky said, “I will remove reservation. Reservation [should be] based on financial status and not caste.”
Slamming the director for his statement, a Twitter user shared the controversial video clip and wrote in Telugu, “Instead of making a film on the education system, first educate yourself. Go read Ambedkar.” Another Twitter user responded to the video clip and wrote, “Not surprised at all. Cannot expect any better from Telugu film makers.”
#SIRMovie
— Kaushik (@partofdproblem) February 17, 2023
Education system midha cinema teeyadam kadu sir ,miku first education avasaram ,go read Ambedkar. pic.twitter.com/F6gQv4XOG0
Not surprised at all. Cannot expect any better from Telugu film makers. https://t.co/NnBtSsJ84a
— Vivek (@DorkChocoMocha) February 17, 2023
In November last year, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10% reservation to EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) persons in education and government jobs. The amendment had been challenged by various NGOs as well as Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leaders, on the premise that reservation on the basis of economic criteria offends the basic structure of the Constitution, and also that excluding socially and educationally backward classes (SCs, STs and OBC-NCLs) from EWS benefits is discriminatory.
Sir marks the entry of actor Dhanush in the Telugu film industry. Samyuktha, who plays the female lead role in the film, recently dropped her last name because it denoted her caste. Recently, during the film’s promotions, when an interviewer addressed her with her first and last name, Samyuktha responded by saying, “You can call me Samyuktha. Earlier, my caste name too was part of my name. I have asked the producers of my upcoming movies to remove ‘Menon’ from my name.” The actor has also removed her caste name from her social media accounts.