‘Mersal’ producer ready to cut scenes that exposed Modi govt’s GST

Agencies
October 22, 2017

Chennai, Oct 22: Facing flak from the Tamil Nadu BJP over dialogues allegedly flaying the GST in "Mersal", the film production house today said that if needed, it would delete scenes that have caused "misunderstanding".

It also said that the BJP's opposition to some dialogues in "Mersal" was "just" from its own perspective.

Giving indication that a truce had been reached between the production house and the state BJP, the producers claimed that BJP leaders have accepted their explanation.

References to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the just-released Vijay-starrer film had not gone down well with the BJP.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan and the party's national secretary H Raja strongly opposed it, claiming that some dialogues were "highly inappropriate".

Earlier in the day, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi hit out at the BJP, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to "interfere" and saying that cinema was a "deep expression" of Tamil culture.

Sri Thenandal Films head Murali Ramaswamy said, "From their perspective, their opposition is just. If opinions (expressed in the movie) that may lead to misunderstanding need to be removed, we are ready for that too."

The BJP leaders have appreciated "our honest approach to meet them in person, we thank them all", the film's producer said after a meeting with state BJP leaders, including Soundararajan, here.

"We explained the movie's objective, our stand and that this movie has not been produced with an intention to hurt anyone and they have generously accepted it," he said.

"Mersal" (a colloquial Tamil word, the meaning of which is getting stunned) is not against anyone, Ramaswamy said in a statement.

"It is not a film that expresses opinions against the government either. Even an ordinary person should get access to proper medical amenities and this is the story line of the movie," the production house head said.

However, he did not elaborate whether the BJP leaders insisted on removing views they found "objectionable" or whether the producers will effect the cuts or not.

Even before the movie was released there were some "controversies", which were "set right", he said, adding "it is anguishing that the film has courted several controversies within a few days of its release".

Noting that "Mersal" was the company's 100th production, Ramaswamy said that the entire team worked hard for a year to make the film and it was screened after overcoming several hurdles.

"... There is an investment of many crores of rupees and the labour of thousands of workers," he said.

The goal of the firm is to produce movies of good entertainment value. "If anyone was hurt because of our production, I consider it as my own regret", the producer said, adding that the film was running successfully.

Sri Thenandal Films is a well-known film production house in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Tamil Film Producers Council and South Indian Artistes' Association opposed cuts as the movie had already been censored.

They claimed that it went against the right to freedom of expression and will set a bad precedent.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Beijing, Feb 18: Police in China have arrested a prominent activist who had been a fugitive for weeks and criticised President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus epidemic while in hiding, a rights group said Tuesday.

Anti-corruption activist Xu Zhiyong was arrested on Saturday after being on the run since December, according to Amnesty International.

China's ruling Communist Party has severely curtailed civil liberties since Xi took power in 2012, rounding up rights lawyers, labour activists and even Marxist students.

The death this month of a whistleblowing doctor who was reprimanded by police for raising the alarm about the deadly new virus before dying of it himself triggered rare calls for political reform and freedom of speech.

The "Chinese government's battle against the coronavirus has in no way diverted it from its ongoing general campaign to crush all dissenting voices," said Patrick Poon, China researcher at Amnesty International, in an emailed statement.

Another source, who spoke to news agency on the condition of anonymity, said Xu had been arrested in the southern city of Guangzhou.

Guangzhou police did not respond to requests for comment.

Xu went into hiding after authorities broke up a December gathering of intellectuals discussing political reform in the eastern coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, prior to the coronavirus crisis.

Over a dozen lawyers and activists were detained or disappeared after the Xiamen gathering, according to rights groups -- and Xu's detention appears linked to his presence at the meeting, explained Poon.

But while on the run, Xu continued to post information on Twitter about rights issues.

On February 4 Xu released an article calling on Xi to step down and criticised his leadership across a range of issues including the US-China trade war, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests and the coronavirus epidemic, which has now killed nearly 1,900 people.

"Medical supplies are tight, hospitals are filled with patients, and a large number of infected people have no way to be diagnosed," he wrote. "It's a mess."

"The coronavirus outbreak shows just how important values like freedom of expression and transparency are -- the exact values that Xu has long advocated," Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, told news agency.

But the disappearance of Xu illustrates how the Chinese state "persists in its old ways" by "silencing its critics", she said.

Xu -- who founded a movement calling for greater transparency among high-ranking officials -- previously served a four-year prison sentence from 2013 to 2017 for organising an "illegal gathering".

"That he was a fugitive for so many days while continuing to speak out, that in itself was... a kind of challenge to (Chinese authorities)," said Hua Ze, a long-time friend of Xu who told AFP she lost contact with the Chinese activist on Saturday morning.

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News Network
March 20,2020

New Delhi, Mar 20: The government on Thursday said one Indian who tested positive for coronavirus has died in Iran while the other citizens infected with the disease are being provided treatment and taken care of by the Iranian government.

Noting that the virus tends to be more fatal for those whose immunity levels are low, a senior MEA official said the deceased, an elderly person, belonged to the vulnerable age group and had health-related complications.

The death was not because of lack of medical attention or care, he said.

"We have evacuated 590 people from Iran where the situation is very severe. The Indians infected with coronavirus in Iran have been segregated and taken care of very well by the government there. We believe they will recover and we will bring them back," the MEA official said, adding that 201 Indians were evacuated from Iran on Wednesday.

The official said closely knit families required some persuasion and counselling during the process of segregation to prevent the spread of the contagion.

The Indian ambassador and other officials explained the consequences of infected people not being separated from their families and were successful to a large extent in segregating the positive cases from the negative ones, he said.

"Some pilgrims and students are still there and our embassy and mission are in control (of the situation)," the official said.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Chennai, Mar 3: Makkal Needhi Maiyam president and actor Kamal Hassan on Tuesday appeared before Chennai Police on Tuesday in connection the deaths last month of three people on the set of the movie, 'Indian 2'.

Hassan appeared before Chennai Police Commissioner in Egmore to record his statement.

Three people died while around 10 suffered injuries when a crane collapsed while shooting of the film was underway in Chennai at EVP Studios on February 19.

Madhu, personal assistant to director Shankar, Krishna, assistant director, and a staffer Chandran, lost their lives in the incident.

In an open letter, "Indian 2" Director S Shankar announced Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to the kin of the deceased.

'Indian 2' stars Kamal Haasan, Kajal Agarwal, Rakul Preet, Siddharth, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Delhi Ganesh and Nedumudi Venu in prominent roles.

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