The brutal assault of a migrant worker in Tiruttani by ganja-addicted teenage school dropouts has triggered widespread outrage across Tamil Nadu, raising serious concerns about substance abuse, street violence, and attacks on guest workers. While much of the Kollywood film fraternity, often seen as heavily supportive to the extent of buttressing the ruling DMK government, has remained silent on the incident, music director Santhosh Narayanan has publicly spoken out, calling for a more honest reckoning with the ground realities.
On 30 December 2025, Santhosh Narayanan shared a detailed statement highlighting his personal experiences with crime and substance abuse in Chennai. In his post, he wrote, “I have lived in an area in chennai for the past decade where it is absolutely top tier dangerous especially at night with hooligans and criminals who are mostly high on substance. Many innocent construction worker friends in my studio site were attacked several times recently. One such criminal who was apprehended was just laughing without any pain when the police lathi charged as he was stoned beyond limits.”
He further added that the violence often carries a racial dimension and is enabled by organised support networks. “Moreover most of these attackers are proud racists and blanket hate/attack people from other states. It is high time we acknowledge that many local political factions and several ‘caste’ based groups come running to support these mostly young boys who end up ruining many lives along with theirs,” he said. Urging a shift away from denial, Narayanan added, “Can we please accept the realities of these incidents and act more realistically and save so many victims? The lines between glorified violence on screen and real incidents such as the recent one have really started blurring and it is high time we act responsibly. Me included.”
This is not the first time the composer has broken ranks with the broader celebrity silence. In the aftermath of Cyclone Michaung, which left large parts of Chennai flooded, Santhosh Narayanan was among the few public figures who spoke from direct, on-the-ground experience. Actively involved in local rescue efforts, he described the severity of the situation, stating, “Everyone here is suffering; we have no electricity, and water surrounds us. This time, there is more water in our locality than in 2015.”
He also voiced frustration over what he described as systemic neglect across successive governments. “We have to look up to the sky and voice our complaints,” he said at the time, criticising the lack of timely attention to the suffering of residents in affected neighbourhoods.
As attacks on migrant and guest workers continue to draw attention, Santhosh Narayanan’s remarks have stood out within the film industry, both for their bluntness and for directly challenging, caste-based mobilisation, and the normalisation of violence. His statements contrast sharply with the continued silence of many prominent figures from Kollywood, even as public concern over safety, law enforcement, and accountability under the ‘Dravidian Model’ of governance grows across the state.
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