When a Film Critic & Godman Fought Over ‘Kaala’ and Got Banished

What does ‘Kaala’ have to do with Kathi Mahesh and Swami Paripoornananda being externed from Hyderabad?

Kathi Mahesh’s blasphemy
On LIVE prime time TeeVee
Got him a load of vitriol
From a very angry Swami

That, in a nutshell, was the tipping point.

Kathi Mahesh, a film critic based in Hyderabad – who gained popularity after participating in ‘Bigg Boss Telugu’ (season 1) last year – was externed (banished from the city) for six months by the police earlier this month for his unsavoury comments on Ramayana that allegedly hurt religious sentiments.

In response, Swami Paripoornananda, the politically active head of the religious organisation Sri Peetham, threatened to take out a rally to oppose Mahesh’s comments. The police took him under house arrest, and eventually externed him to his ashram in Kakinada.

What prompted Kathi Mahesh to speak on the Ramayana? Why did the police take Paripoornananda’s threats seriously? These incidents over the last two weeks in Hyderabad, that make for a great potboiler, have their roots in Rajinikanth’s ‘Kaala’.