Congress leader flays marketing films using religious sentiments

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 28 (PTI) A controversy has erupted in Kerala following the reported announcement by a production house that it was withdrawing its Malayalam movie from theatres, claiming that certain groups had created trouble and were threatening its makers.
    Questioning the actions of the production house, Congress leader V T Balram on Thursday alleged that certain filmmakers were attempting to market their 'failed' movies by spreading claims that some viewers had described them as 'hurting religious sentiments' and had threatened to prevent their screening.
    Balram, who is also the vice president of the KPCC, said it must be reasonably doubted whether the allegations of threats and the temporary withdrawal were deliberately created to save a movie that could have flopped in theatres or has already flopped.
    Stating that there is no clarity on whether such a complaint has ever been brought before the police or if the police have conducted an investigation into it, Balram said that such attempts to use religious sentiments for marketing movies were a gross injustice to viewers and a dangerous trend.
    "There was no information about any well-known individuals or organisations coming forward with allegations of 'blasphemy' or issuing threats regarding it. Not a single post criticising the movie was seen on the timeline, including on social media platforms like Facebook," Balram, who is also a former MLA, said in the Facebook post.
    "At a time when certain political parties are promoting religious sentiments to get votes, movie-makers also should not follow their path which this state cannot bear," he said in the post.
    The latest movie in question was released on November 22.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)