Amidst the outrage around the Tamil film ‘Annapoorani’ for hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community, the film’s actress Nayanthara has issued an apology. In a note posted on her Instagram on Thursday (18th January), the actress said that she did not intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments.
Nayanthara began her apology with “Jai Shri Ram” and said that the makers of the film attempted to give a “positive message”, however, in the process they may have “inadvertently caused hurt.”
Further, the actress added that the film’s team did not expect a film passed by the censor board and already released in theatres, to be removed from an OTT platform.
“We did not expect the removal of a censored film, previously showcased in theatres, from the OTT platform. My team and I never intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments and we understand the gravity of this issue,” Nayanthara wrote.
Moreover, Nayanthara asserted that she is a firm believer of God and often visits temples across the country adding that causing hurt to religious sensibilities intentionally would be the last thing she would do.
“Being someone who wholely believes in God and frequently visits temples across the country, it is the last thing I would intentionally do. To those whose feelings we’ve touched, I extend my sincere and heartfelt apologies,” she added.
Towards the end of her apology note, the actress said that the film Annapoorani was meant to “uplift and inspire, not to cause distress.”
Notably, Nayanthara’s apology comes just days after Zee Studios issued an apology to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for hurting Hindu religious sentiments of the Hindu community in their film ‘Annapoorani’. The letter stated that Zee has urged the film’s co-producers, M/s Trident Arts, to take appropriate action against the problematic parts in the film, as well as Netflix to remove the movie from its OTT platform till the film is not altered. Zee apologized for offending the religious sentiments of the Hindu and Brahmin communities.
‘Annapoorani’ was released on Netflix on 28th December last year and is the 75th film of Tamil actress Nayanthara. The movie is produced by Trident Arts, Zee Studios and Naad Studios. However, Netflix de-platformed the movie on January 11.
As reported earlier, the film garnered a lot of criticism on social media recently for its anti-Hindu content. The film was accused of promoting conversion to Islam, misrepresenting the revered Hindu deity Bhagwan Ram and offending the religious sentiments of Hindus.
On 6th January, former Shiv Sena leader Ramesh Solanki filed a police complaint against the makers of the film ‘Annapoorani’. Solanki, the founder of Hindu IT Cell, wrote to the Chief Inspector of the Lokmanya Tilak police station, seeking action against the anti-Hindu nature of the feature film.
According to the Hindu activist, the movie ‘Annapoorani’ featured several objectionable scenes. Those include the offering of Namaz (Islamic prayer) by the daughter of a Hindu Brahmin temple priest, glorification of love jihad, and falsehoods about Lord Ram and Maa Sita devouring meat in Ramayana. On 10th January, another FIR (First Information Report) was registered against the film’s makers and actors in Madhya Pradesh by the Hindu Seva Parishad.