Thalaivasal Vijay as 1921 rebellion hero runs into censor problem

 

The Malayalam film `1921 – puzha muthal puzha vare’ which has Thalaivasal Vijay playing the pivotal role has been denied certification by censors as it would create communal disharmony in the country.  He plays the role of Haji the man who led the rebellion against the British . Sources say that in the film, Haji and his men plundered the Hindus and murdered them. Vijay had acted as Sree Narayana Guru in Malayalam film Yugapurushan and was last seen in ` Arattu’.

In the first of the series to saffronize Variyan Kunnathu Kunjahammed Haji acted by Thalaivsal Vijay , the hero of  Malabar rebellion of 1921, the film `1921 – puzha muthal puzha vare’ directed by Akbar Ali has been denied certification. The film maker has moved the High Court. Akbar Ali who facing criticism for supporting BJP has named him as Ramasimhan Aboobakker .

 A tweet by BJP politician T G Mohandas said Sir

 

@ianuragthakur

we, from Kerala,were desparately tweeting to get CBFC Certificate to the Malayalam film Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare on 1921 Hindu Genocide. Our requests were ignored. Now the poor producer Ramasimhan has approached KeralaHC. We sadly understand that we are orphans

This post is in contrast to the earlier stance of Ali Akbar that his film has not been denied certification and that he would release it after Onam last year. Media reports said that the film was denied certification and in appeal it went to the regional committee. The regional committee too backed the censor board. Ali then claimed that he had an adult certificate as he has shown the ~ 1921 riots” and so there was bloodshed and not any rape scenes.

The Malabar rebellion hero Kunjuahammed Haji came into focus when leading director Ashiq Abu and actor Prithviraj announced last June, that they were making a film on his role in the Independence Struggle. Director P  Kunjumuhamed and stage director Shaheed Variyamkunnan too announced films on the same character. Ali Akbar joined the fray to ` show the true face of the hero of the rebellion’.

BJP was keen to portray the Haji as a villain who plundered Hindus during the rebellion and other section out to glorify him. Prithiviraj backed out from the project.

Now the tweet from BJP fellow traveler shows that the first attempt has been not got the backing from the national leadership . The anti BJP camp says that the idea is to remove some of the heroes from the history books Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s freedom struggle 1857-1947, released in 2019 by PM Modi shows Kunjuahamed Haji and Ali Musaliar as freedom fighters came as a big blow to Hindu nationalists.

As soon as the Hindu nationalists raised objections, the soft copy was removed from the website of Cultural Affairs ministry and as per official explanation it was to be issued after the ` mistakes’ were corrected.

Now that the BJP in Kerala and the national leadership has obviously washed it’s hands off. The revising committee of Censor is headed by Gautami the actress who was to contest on BJP ticket in last Tamil Nadu Assembly polls. The Union minister of State looking after the portfolio that oversees such issues is Murugan the BJP MP and hailing from Tamil Nadu.

The propaganda is that Haji and his men plundered Hindus and looted their bank as well raped their woman. He is no freedom fighter but a plunderer is the story by BJP. Leftists say that by tarnishing Haji, the agenda is to remove Vayalar Punapara rebellion heroes from history books. As things stand, the ball is in Kerala High Court.