'Jai Bhim' row: Book Suriya, Jyothika and director Gnanavel, Chennai court tells cops

A Chennai court has directed the police to file a case against actor Suriya, wife Jyothika and director Gnanavel for 'wrongly representing the Vanniyar Community in the Jai Bhim movie'.

'Jai Bhim', produced by the company owned by the actor couple, was critically acclaimed upon its release. 

The Vanniyar community had approached the court contending that certain scenes in the movie depicted the Vanniyatr community in a bad light. Therefore, members of the Rudra Vanniyar Sena had approached the Saidapet court and sought a direction to file a case against Suriya, his wife Jyothika and the director of the film, Gnanavel.

Among the instances listed in the petition, one included an objection over the name of the villain having a reference to the Vanniyar community.

After hearing the matter, the court directed the police to file the case against the trio. So far, Suriya has not responded to the court directive.

The film has been shrouded in controversy since its release. To recall, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss had also objected to several scenes in the movie. Even then, neither Suriya nor Jyothika had responded to the allegations that the film was targetting the Vanniyar community.

The court directive comes just days after 'Jai Bhim' picked up two awards at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival. While 'Jai Bhim' bagged the 'Best Film' award, it also won the 'Best Supporting Actor' award for actor Manikandan. 

The film, whose cast also includes Prakash Raj, Lijomol Jose, Rajisha Vijayan and Rao Ramesh, revolves around a murder mystery involving a tribal couple. When the tribal woman's husband goes missing post-arrest, she reaches out to a high court lawyer. The movie depicts a brutal lock-up death case that happened many years ago.