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TV Shows Face the Ire of BJP Supporters in Tamil Nadu

BJP supporters rant against ‘Kalakka Povadhu Yaaru’ on Vijay TV and ‘Enga Veetu Mappillai’ on Colors Tamil.

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India
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It's outrage week for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters in Tamil Nadu, with two TV shows on separate channels causing "offence.”

The first is Tamil TV show Kalakka Povadhu Yaaru which airs on Vijay TV. The show has come under ire from BJP supporters after an episode satirised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and took a dig at Hindi imposition in the state. Moreover, the show has been accused of promoting "secessionist" politics.

The second is Enga Veetu Mappillai on Colors Tamil, a reality TV show in which actor Arya is expected to pick a bride from 16 contestants. The BJP leaders and supporters in the state are outraged about the show and say it supports "love jihad.”

Reality Show Promoting ‘Secessionist’ Politics?

In one of the episodes, director Seeman was the special guest on Kalakka Povadhu Yaaru and the theme was political satire.

In the performance put up by contestants Sivabalan and Bhuvaneshwari, Sivabalan dresses up as a Maharani. When the anchor tells the queen that the “Maharaja” has gone abroad, she’s unperturbed and says, “It’s shocking if he doesn’t go out of the country, it’s not a shocking if he does.”

The anchor then tells the queen that the Maharaja has tweeted that she must rule in his absence. Her response to this is, "This has become his routine, to put something on Twitter, wear his sweater, and go." Seeman, the judges, and the audience can be seen laughing uproariously.

As part of her new job as the ruler of the kingdom, the queen meets with a businessman (Bhuvaneshwari) from an MNC. The contestants go on to take potshots at the culture of bending low to seek blessings from politicians and the practice of distributing freebies to fool voters. There are also some obvious hits at the corruption that the state has seen over the years in the name of constructing public projects. These are certainly aimed at the Dravidian parties in the state.

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Then comes the bit which has riled up BJP supporters. The queen asks the businessman how Tamil Nadu can progress. To this, the businessman says, “Tamil Nadu? Isn’t your ‘nadu’ (country) India?.”  The queen shoots back saying, “It was, but ever since they tried to make it Hindia, we’ve also changed.”

While the participants did not limit themselves to a particular political party but took digs across the board (including new entrant Kamal Haasan), this clip has been shared by several users, accusing the show and Vijay TV of promoting "secessionism.”

The supporters have been tweeting with the hashtag #WeHateVijayTV, while alleging that the show is "anti-India.”

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Enga Veetu Mappillai Promoting Love Jihad?

Meanwhile, actor Varalaxmi Sarathkumar made an appearance on Enga Veetu Mappillai, the Tamil version of the reality TV show The Bachelor, to interact with the prospective brides.

Since actor Arya is a Muslim - his real name is Jamshad - one of the questions Varalaxmi Sarathkumar asks the women on a one-on-one basis is, "Jammy (Arya) will not expect it, but if he does, will you be willing to change your religion?"

While some of them readily say that they will change their religion, others give a more measured response.

H Raja, national secretary of the BJP, endorsed a user's tweet accusing the channel of "love jihad.” H Raja, in his retweet, also added, "If we ask this then we are dubbed communal. This is shameless and despicable."

(This story was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished here with permission.)

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Topics:  BJP   Tamil Nadu   Kamal Haasan 

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