Controversies that shook Kollywood in 2019

Like every year, there were enough controversies, of varied kinds, that rocked the Tamil industry in 2019, too. While a few of them included artistes' issues, there were other disputes with regard to film releases, conflict between filmmakers, financial scuffles, and so on. Check out the top 10 controversies that shook the industry this year...

The year started with one of the biggest BO battles of the decade in Kollywood. Rajinikanth's Petta and Ajith's Viswasam, both released on January 10. The two movies, which belonged to different genres, appealed to their respective fans and other section of audience, too. Quite naturally, there were fan wars reported at a few theatres which screened both the films from early morning. The fight between fans of the two stars intensified on social media when the production company of both the films had a tiff of sorts as they announced the BO collection.

Hitting the headlines for making misogynist comments is nothing new for Radha Ravi. At the trailer launch of Kolaiyuthir Kaalam, the senior actor made a derogatory comment on the film’s protagonist Nayanthara. The actress, as usual, wasn’t present at the venue. Ravi went on to say that gone are the days where filmmakers used to cast only well-behaved and respected actresses for devotional films. He said, “These days, those actresses who sleep around are also considered for such pious characters.” Quite sadly, there were only a handful of people who expressed their protest against the actor’s uncouth statement.

That maestro Ilaiyaraaja is short tempered, is something known to many. This year, there were two instances where he behaved in an appropriate manner. In an interview, he came down heavily on the makers of 96, especially its composer, for using a song of his in one of the scenes in the film. The displeased veteran musician said that one needn’t use his song to depict a time period and called them impotent for not able to come up with fresh songs.

In another incident, during his concert which was held in the city, he shouted at a security guard for disturbing the singers who were performing on stage. Though the security told him that he was only distributing a water bottle to the needy, Raja scolded him saying that such practise would disturb the audience and singers.

Director Anita Udeep’s female-centric flick, 90ml, which starred Oviya and a bunch of girls, courted controversy owing to the bold content discussed in the movie. Thanks to the popularity of Oviya, the movie had shows starting from 5am in the morning in a few screens in the city. A few from the industry came down heavily as the film had its pivotal characters, a few girls, shown drinking , smoking and leading lives to the fullest. The director, however, retorted by stating that she only portrayed the lives of those people who believed in leading a life in the way they felt was right.

The last minute issues pertaining to Tamil films have kind of become a norm in the industry. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that at least one film a month faces the KDM issue, leaving makers and audience in the lurch. But what happened on May 10 was something unusual and shocking to movie buffs and the industry. Three movies, namely Vishal-starrer Ayogya, Jiiva-starrer Kee and Atharvaa-starrer 100, faced financial issues because of which their releases looked impossible even at 11am as audience across the state thronged to theatres. Though Kee and 100 started shows after sometime, Ayogya couldn’t release on that day, burning holes in producer’s pocket.

The Telugu superhit film Arjun Reddy got nationwide popularity when it was remade in Hindi as Kabir Singh. The Tamil remake of the film was carrying enough buzz when the project was announced with Bala at the helm and Vikram’s son Dhruv playing the protagonist. The female lead Megha Chowdhury was also a debutant. Titled Varma, the producers expressed displeasure on the film was made and the project was shelved, leaving Bala in doldrums. They restarted the movie with a new director and heroine, with the titke Adithya Varma. Gireesayya replaced Bala and Banita Sandhu replaced Megha.

The first look of Ratnakumar’s Aadai was bold and beautiful, thanks to Amala Paul’s appearance in it. The poster had the stripped actress in a bruised look with only a little cloth on her body. Many filmmakers and movie buffs appreciated the makers for a unique first look and expressed their interest to watch the movie. Touted as a thriller, this movie, too, faced financial issues because of which the shows started screening only from the evening. Interestingly, in one of the rare scenarios, the actress is reported to have paid some money from her pocket to settle the dues.

The trailer of debutant Pradeep Ranganathan’s Comali, starring Jayam Ravi, Kajal Aggarwal and Samyukta Hegde, created quite a stir as it had a portion which allegedly mocked Rajinikanth towards its end. The film had Ravi playing a character who was in coma for 15 years. He wakes up after a decade and a half to realise that a lot of things have changed in these many years. Apparently, he watches television in which Rajinikanth is shown announcing his political entry which actually happened last year. But the character immediately says that he is still in 20th century, taking a potshot at Superstar’s delayed political entry. Rajini fans expressed their anger on social media and later, the scene was altered.

Seems like it is mandatory to have a controversy when the release of a Vijay film is round the corner. Selvam, an assistant director, had filed a complaint stating that the story of Bigil belonged to him. There was uncertainty with regard to the movie’s release on Deepavali. Later, the court came up with a verdict in favour of Bigil makers.

Similarly, a few Vijay fans were said to have created ruckus in Krishnagiri when they were agitated about the film delayed its screening by a few hours. Reportedly, they damaged public property and a case was registered on more than 30 people.

Gautham Menon’s Dhanush-starrer Enai Noki Payum Thota was a film which movie buffs have been waiting for a long time. The director’s film with Vikram, Dhruva Natchathiram, is another movie which is yet to see the light of the day. Meanwhile, he had collaborated with Karthick Naren on the movie Naragasooran, too, which is also lying on cans. Gauthma and Karthick had a tiff earlier when the latter accused the former for the project getting delayed. Recently, when Gautham had tweeted about the release of Vikram-starrer, Karthick quickly replied asking the status of Naragasooran. He tweeted, “Some clarity on when this is gonna see the light of the day will be really helpful sir. And yes, this film is very very close to my heart!”