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Rajaraja Chozhan Being “Appropriated” As Hindu: Film Director Vetrimaaran Complains, Netizens Hit Back

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In an event organised by the VCK party to celebrate the 60th birthday of its leader Thirumavalavan, Tamil film director Vetrimaaran stated that Rajaraja Chozan is being “appropriated as a Hindu”.

This director’s comment comes in light of the director Maniratnam’s latest film “Ponniyin Selvan – Part 1” which is based on the novel of the same name written by literary stalwart ‘Kalki’ Krishnamurthy. The film is about the golden age of Chozhas and the rise of Arulmozhivarman as Rajaraja Chozhan.

Director Vetrimaaran said during the event , “My friend has done a meticulous study on how the literature and cinema were in their hands (Brahmins), and how the Dravidian movement took over cinema from them.”

He also stated, “I believe Tamil Nadu is still a secular state, mature enough to resist the intrusion of many ‘external forces’ as a result of the Dravidian movement seizing control of Tamil cinema.”

He went on to say that cinema is an art form that can easily reach a large number of people, and that the politicisation of cinema is very important, which was lacking in the intervening period when it was in their hands (Brahmins) and was successfully accomplished when the Dravidian movement took over cinema.

He continued, “Today, we must properly handle this art. Failure to deal with this can lead to the loss of many of our identities very quickly. They (Brahmins) are constantly taking our identity, like saffronizing Valluvar and making Rajaraja Chola a Hindu king, and the list goes on.”

He further said, “Appropriation of identity happens in cinema too. We must preserve our identity.”

While praising the DMK and its allies’ political unity in opposing the RSS rally scheduled for October 2nd, he stated, “We must be politically clear if we are to fight for our identity.  The biggest example of this is the action taken against the event (RSS rally) that was supposed to happen on Gandhi Jayanthi. We should all work together like this.”

Many on social media have been lashing out Vetrimaaran stating that if Chozha was not a Hindu why did he build temples and nor Mosques or Churches.

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