News Special Reports Tamil Nadu

How Vetrimaaran Chickened Out And Yielded To Pressure From Mukkulathor Community To Mute ‘Aanda Parambarai’ Word In Asuran Film

January 29, 2025
The Commune

Vetrimaaran’s handling of caste in films like Asuran and Bad Girl raises questions about whether his storytelling is tailored to please specific audiences rather than calling out social injustices against vulnerable groups. In Asuran, the director carefully avoided naming or directly targeting upper-caste groups despite the film’s focus on Dalit struggles and historical oppression. Faced with pressure from the Mukkulathor community, Vetrimaaran swiftly censored controversial content to avoid backlash. In contrast, with Bad Girl, Vetrimaaran takes a bold stance against the Brahmin community, presenting a Brahmin girl as a rebellious figure breaking free from patriarchal constraints. This shift reveals a selective approach: while he hesitated to critique dominant castes in Asuran due to their power and influence, he feels more comfortable criticizing Brahmins—who have minimal political sway or reservations—presenting them as a convenient target in the Dravidian ideological narrative.

Bad Girl, an upcoming Tamil film produced by Anurag Kashyap and Dravidianist filmmaker Vetrimaaran, is the latest addition to a growing list of anti-Brahmin propaganda films from Kollywood. Based on the trailer, the film seems to tell the story of a Tamil Brahmin girl who seeks to rebel against her family, break free from “Brahminical patriarchy,” and live a more liberated, “high life” by defying her parents and traditional values.

It’s hardly surprising that both the director (Varsha Bharath) and the lead actress of this Brahmin-bashing film belong to the Tamil Brahmin community that is portrayed as regressive in the movie. It is also predictable that these two talented women have fallen into the trap set by the Dravidian ideological ecosystem.

However, what stands out is Vetrimaaran’s selective approach to casting blame. While he is eager to criticize Brahmins, he refuses to specifically name or target dominant castes, especially when backlash is a possibility. He quickly succumbs to pressure, removing controversial elements from his films after receiving opposition—particularly when his caste-based films highlighting Dalit struggles face criticism. A prime example of his reluctance is even seen in an interview, where he avoided using terms like “dominant castes” or “caste Hindus,” preferring instead to say “non-Dalits.”

In a past interview, Vetrimaaran discussed his challenges with Asuran, mentioning that the Dravidian movement’s strong influence in Tamil Nadu has allowed filmmakers the freedom to present their ideologies. He said, “The challenge I had with Asuran was that it’s not just a non-political film, it’s a Dalit film where the protagonist is a Dalit, and he’s not meek—he stands up for what’s right and brings down upper-caste people. This was the most challenging aspect for me, as there was a lot of speculation during pre-production and shooting. We didn’t want to offend anyone because we were simply stating facts, and we wanted people to understand the film. We wanted Dalits to see themselves represented, and for non-Dalits to understand what happened in the past and how their parents or grandparents were responsible. That was the challenge we faced, which is why we refrained from mentioning any specific caste.”

Despite this approach, Vetrimaaran’s portrayal of a Dalit protagonist in Asuran was met with criticism. In 2019, when Vetrimaaran inserted the “Aanda Parambarai” dialogue in Asuran, several community members including actor-politician Karunas personally contacted the director, urging him to remove the line from the theatrical version. The phrase means ‘Ruling Clan’, and the community members felt it referred to their Mukkulathor community.

Audio recordings of these calls surfaced on YouTube, showcasing how respectfully he agreed to mute the dialogue in response to the callers.

In the leaked audio recordings, representatives from the community  like Aapanadu Maravar Sangam, Mukkulathor Munnetra Sangam, among many speak to him about the said phrase and how the scene involves people talking about land and money grabbing portraying their community in negative light. They advise him that films should promote social harmony and said that they were upset with the developments while asking him to make changes to the film. To this, we find Vetrimaaran responding very politely saying he will do what he can to make the changes within a couple of days. A subsequent caller from the community calls once again only to get the response that he was going to remove the phrase in a day’s time. He also adds that it was not his intention to hurt anyone and that it was a mistake. He also explains why it takes the given amount of time to remove the phrase.

He also promises to release a press note and make a public announcement with respect to the same issue. People from the community also mildly warn him not to do anything similar in the future.

As a result, the line was eventually removed in the censored version, which was redistributed across theaters.

However, when one looks at the Bad Girl film, despite the backlash from the Brahmin community, there is no such step taken for Bad Girl film which shows the protagonist in an abominable light. But that seems to be okay since the Tamil Brahmins are a miniscule number in the state and do not exert any political or economic influence whatsoever.

This cowardice is a stark contrast to Vetrimaaran’s shameless attacks on the Brahmin community, revealing the hypocrisy in his filmmaking.

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