CHENNAI: A Mumbai-based journalist has threatened to file a defamation suit against actor Rajinikanth over his film 'Kaala' which is scheduled to release on Friday. The legal notice sent by Jawahar Nadar's lawyer accuses the superstar of portraying his father, late S Thiraviam Nadar, in a bad light to garner support among the affluent and upper-caste sections of society. Mr Nadar has demanded a written apology within 36 hours since the receipt of the notice, failing which he has threatened to file a defamation suit seeking Rs. 101 crore as damages.
Mr Nadar says his father, a jaggery and sugar merchant from Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district, had moved to Dharavi in Mumbai in 1957 and was nick-named 'Gudwala Seth' and 'Kaala Seth', owing to the goodwill he had earned and was never involved in illegal activities.
When contacted, Rajinikanth's team said that they would give an appropriate reply after the notice is received. They further asserted that 'Kaala' is not about Thiraviam Nadar.
'Kaala', dubbed as the political launch film for Rajinikanth, shows him fighting oppression. At the audio launch for the film, Rajinikanth said "'Kaala' has politics but it's not a political film". On a question about the launch of his party, he said "The time is yet to come (for launch of his party). I have the responsibility. When the time comes all good things would happen to Tamil Nadu".
Rajinikanth had a few days ago, sparked a huge controversy over his statement that was seen to justify police firing that killed 13 people demanding closure of the Sterlite copper smelter plant.
He had blamed anti-social elements for the deaths and asked the state government to "come down hard" on them, a stance that mirrored the ruling AIADMK government's line.
He had then went on to declare that he would not accept people who harm people in uniform and dismissed protests against police excesses.
Rajinikanth had also controversially insisted that people shouldn't protest about everything else Tamil Nadu would turn into a "graveyard".
MDMK founder Vaiko said Rajinikanth's comments have "hurt crores of Tamils".
He later however, later expressed regret for his comments, saying he did not intend to hurt anyone's sentiments.
Local communities are angry as they claim it was the police who orchestrated violence to create an excuse to open fire.
Ten people were killed on the day of the shootings, and a further three have died since, making this one of the most deadly environmental protests in India since the death of 14 people in West Bengal's Nandigram protests in 2007 against the government's plan to acquire land for industries.
'Kaala' is Rajini's second film with Director Pa Ranjith.