Peruchaazhi lands in soup

Special arrangement Veteran film director Harikumar is making a film on the late child artist prodigy Clint (in the photo along with his parents).

If the cold reception from the fans as well as the general audience was not enough, Mohanlals Onam release Peruchaazhi has now landed in the soup over a few politically incorrect dialogues in its script.

One of the dialogues delivered by Vijay Babus character in the film has been deemed derogatory of those hailing from Attappady. Though a few critics had raised the issue at the time of the release, things actually heated up two days back with director Biju Damodaran putting up a Facebook post against such insensitiveness. He particularly held the superstar himself responsible for this and criticised him for promoting such regressive thinking.

Now, the actors fans, known to be intolerant of even mild criticism of the man, attacked Mr. Biju verbally on his page. Some of the comments mirrored the insensitive dialogue in the film, thus vindicating the directors stand that such lines have a huge impact on the viewers. The fans are of the opinion that the star cannot be held responsible for what the scriptwriter has written.

Last checked, the fans are still hunting him in packs, a la Sachin-Sharapova episode.

Some of the other sequences in the film, including that of the star creating racial tension for the sake of a few votes, have also been criticised for political incorrectness. Though it has been explained away as a reflection of real life, critics have pointed at how it is all depicted in a positive light, as a sign of intelligence of the star.

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Clint will remain a sorrow for Malayalis always. He had died, in 1983, at the age of six, after leaving behind about 25,000 paintings. Paintings that belied his age.

Two decades after his death, veteran director Harikumar is making a film on the prodigys life.

I felt Clints extraordinary life needed to be told on celluloid, says the director of films such as Sukrutham, Ayanam and Udyanapalakan. A few days ago, I discussed the possibility of such a film with M.T. Vasudevan Nair, who also encouraged me to work on it.

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Peruchaazhi lands in soup