With the economy coming to a standstill due to COVID, its impact can be felt across industries with the media industry being no exception. Many people who work in the media are losing their jobs. In light of this, news have surfaced in social media that the Tamil media house Vikatan has fired hundreds of its employees. This has made filmmakers like Lenin Bharati to register their protest and has said that he would return the award given to him by Vikatan.
Lenin Bharathi won the Vikatan Best Director Award for the movie, Merkku Thodarchi Malai. In a tweet Mr. Lenin said, “In condemnation against the Vikatan group for firing 176 employees, I am sending back the Vikatan Award which was received for Best Film Merkku Thodarchi Malai & Best Male Debut Director.”
176 தொழிலாளர்களை மனசாட்சியின்றி பணிநீக்கம் செய்துள்ள @vikatan குழுமத்தைக் கண்டித்து மேற்குத் தொடர்ச்சிமலை திரைப்படத்திற்கு வழங்கிய சிறந்த திரைப்படத்திற்கான விருதையும் & சிறந்த அறிமுக இயக்குநருக்குமான விருதையும் விகடன் குழுமத்திற்கே திரும்ப அனுப்புகிறேன். #stopvikatanlayoff pic.twitter.com/C79DlJtyic
— leninbharathi (@leninbharathi1) May 22, 2020
Following this, many started tweeting about Vikatan with the hashtag #stopvikatanlayoff trending on Twitter.