Political Party Moves Madras High Court To Ban “Desiya Thalaivar” Movie; Says It Defames Former CM Kamarajar, May Cause Communal Violence

A political party has approached the Madras High Court seeking to ban the “Desiya Thalaivar” movie, alleging that it defames former Chief Minister K Kamarajar. Desiya Thalaivar is the biopic of politician and freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar. When the matter was taken up by the bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, it adjourned the plea by a week. A Hari Nadar, founder of the Shathriya Sandror Padai, argued that the movie contained concocted stories defaming the former CM without any documentary evidence and creates unnecessary clashes between both the Nadar and Thevar communities, and may lead to community clashes among the communities. He argued that in the movie, Muthuramalinga Thevar is shown to have helped Kamarajar contest the first local elections in 1936, after the latter's mother refused to convey property to let him contest elections. It was submitted that as per the movie, Thevar is said to have brought a lamb and paid tax for the same in the name of Kamarajar, helping him to contest the elections, but this information was without any documentary evidence. He argued that the movie contains several scenes that defame the former CM without any proof and evidence and have been introduced only to portray Thevar highly. He argued that the movie attempts to create a rift between the Thevar and Nadar communities and thus should be banned.It may be noted that two petitions were also filed in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court against the screening of the movie, alleging that it portrayed the leaders of other political parties in a bad light and may lead to clashes. One of the petitioners also sought to form a special committee consisting of a retired judge of the High Court to review the movie. The plea claimed that the committee could objectively determine if the movie contained objectionable content that could affect public order. Though the court had called for a response from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in these cases, the petitions were eventually dismissed as withdrawn. Case Title: A Hari Nadar v. The State Government Of Tamil Nadu and Others Case No: WP No. 43258 of 2025

Political Party Moves Madras High Court To Ban “Desiya Thalaivar” Movie; Says It Defames Former CM Kamarajar, May Cause Communal Violence

Upasana Sajeev

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