Mersal: Will this storm in a tea cup blow over or will it grow worse?

It is more of a storm in a tea cup and has given enormous publicity to Vijay-starrer ‘Mersal’. It is obviously a major blunder on the part of the script writer on Goods and Services Act (GST) which has triggered a rash of objections.And this publicity has helped the producers laugh all the way to the bank and has endowed Vijay with an aura of invincibility, especially among the masses. He has become the darling of the younger generation.

As AIADMK leader T.T.V.Dinakaran put it, the producers of ‘Mersal’ are indebted to the BJP leaders for such a free publicity and making the film click. But for their unseemly vituperation, it might have gone even unnoticed.

With the release of its Telugu version "athirindhi" expected any time, will this further accentuate the animosity between the BJP leaders and actor Vijay?

Some of the most debated punch lines in the film could be categorized as “suppressio very, suggestio falsi” (suppressing the truth and suggesting the falsehood). Even well-meaning citizens have been given no chance to approach the issue rationally.

And this essay is an unbiased analysis of what is right and wrong about the movie.

First and foremost, Vijay is only mouthing what was given to him as his dialogue. After all, all of us do know that what Sivaji Ganesan spoke in "Parasakthi" are the immortal lines of 'Kalaignar' Karunanidhi and the actor has only delivered them with emotion and aplomb. Hence, it would be irrational to attribute the dialogue to the actors who are nothing but mouthpieces.

What exactly is the scene that provoked the BJP leaders? Let us put it in the proper context and thus provide a prosper perspective.

The hero, Vijay, who strikes an extremely vitriolic pose against the medical profession, addresses a massive audience after committing a murder as revenge for the death of a young girl at a government hospital. He wants to cleanse the medical profession.

Explaining why he was was provoked into taking this extreme step, he says: there are two whom we believe in blindly.

The first is 'God' and the other is 'Doctor'. At least for God we only surrender our hair. But, to the doctor, we surrender our life itself. (The language used here is quite unparliamentary and definitely hurts Hindu sentiments. This has been handled in a clumsy fashion).

Vijay observes that by not attending to the patients properly, doctors lose trust. “That is betrayal and that cannot be pardoned at all”, he asserts.

He also refers to various instances without specifying them: where children are dying for want of proper medical care including oxygen, how some patients lost their lives due to lack of electricity and where even rodents kill children. All these instances are absolutely true because all of them have been reported all over the country and we have to bow our heads in shame.

I will now list the objectionable dialogues in the movie.

7% GST வாங்கும் சிங்கப்பூர் அந்த நாட்டுமக்களுக்கு மருத்துவத்தை இலவசமா தரப்போ.... 28% GST வாங்கும் நம்ம அரசாங்கம் ஏன்மருத்துவத்தை இலவசமா தர முடியலே?

Then he says that in Singapore the GST is 7%. But the entire health care is free. In India, GST is 28% but health care is not so. But what the script writer failed to understand is while 28% is the highest rate of GST levied in India, it is only on luxury or “sin” goods. All the essential items have been totally exempted or the maximum levied on them is only 5%.

The comparison of Singapore with a population of about 60 lakh people with India, a nation of 130 crore population is patently quixotic and invidious. Singapore collects regular tax, a certain percentage of one's earning every month, and spends it on all welfare schemes including health care. India doesn't collect such tax from everyone. Though India does not have proper social security schemes, still both education and health care are free here.

But why many of us choose private hospitals and private schools is because of lack of faith in our public institutions and the poor standards that they maintain.

In an extremely vituperative language, he lashes out at the Central Government that “for medicines the tax is 12% but for liquor which kills people, there is no GST at all”. மெடிசினிக்கு 12% GST யாம் ஆனால் தாய்மார்களின் தாலி அறுக்கும் சாராயத்துக்கு GSTயே கிடையாது.

The writer has failed to understand that there is no GST not only on liquor but also on petroleum products and real estate. Such products attract far higher levies. They are subjected to much more than 28%, the highest GST rate. The decision whether to bring liquor under the GST now rests with the state Governments.



The script writer probably does not know that GST is not a single tax but is the one that has been evolved merging 17 types of levies prevailing in India for decades together. Mr.Rahul Gandhi, the incoming President of the grand old party of India, and Mr.P.Chidambaram, a former Finance Minister, who have opposed the demand of the BJP for deletion of such scenes do know that it was the Congress which was responsible for a plethora of levies and they were the people who initiated GST. They also know that it is because of the objection of the State Governments, the Centre is dithering over bringing liquor, petroleum products and real estate under the ambit of the GST.



As BJP’s National General Secretary, H.Raja pointed out that the tax in India on liquor works out to as high as 58%. Hence, it is intellectual chicanery on the part of Rahul and Chidambaram to pretend that the dialogues in the movie are absolutely right.

Several leaders including BJP State President, Tamilisai Sounderrajan have lambasted the actor (for no fault of his) for “misleading references and generating wrong information.”

Raja also said “Mersal” shows Vijay’s (script writer’s?) ignorance in economic matters as the GST is not a new tax and the tax on liquor is over 58 percent. According to Raja, education and healthcare is free in government schools and hospitals in India. “It is a lie to say healthcare is free in Singapore.”



The issue took a communal tone, when Raja in a tweet raked up the actor’s Christian origins. Referring to the actor’s dialogue in the movie, Raja tweeted that in the last 20 years, 17,500 churches, 9,700 mosques and 370 temples were built. Out of these what are avoided to build are hospitals, Raja posted. This has now provoked or emboldened the actor to come out with a letterhead prominently displaying his name as "Joseph Vijay".



The anger of the BJP comes against the backdrop of another prominent film actor, Kamal Haasan, taking potshots the BJP. Taking a firm stand on the issue veteran actor and aspiring politician Kamal Haasan has requested officials not to take any step against the alleged scene from the flick.

Haasan tweeted, "Mersal was certified. Don't re-censor it. Counter criticism with logical response. Don't silence critics. India will shine when it speaks."



But what intrigues me is the question what is “freedom of expression” (karuthu sudhandhiram). Does it mean you can twist the facts according to your convenience? And, none of the people who now support the film, including former Finance Minister, has bothered to admit that there are factual flaws in the dialogues.

I believe that anyone has the right to oppose GST or any law but not to twist facts and figures which is in black and white.

All the people who are now backing the movie are totally against Modi and they would do anything to scoff at Modi. Though the Congress has been advocating GST for more than a decade, just because it has been translated into reality by the BJP government, is it just and proper that it should be pilloried with pitiless humour?

Nobody, except the medical fraternity, is going to worry about Vijay’s caustic remarks against doctors. All of us do know that the noble lifesaving profession has been sullied to such an extent that it looks it is beyond redemption. Afterall, the Vijayakanth-starrer ‘Ramana’ also had a similar theme. 

But what I am unable to concur with people who talk of “freedom of expression” is their deliberate winking at of the “factual blunders” in the dialogues.

At the same time, I am appalled to note that a top level BJP leader like Raja bringing into the scenario an element of “communal bias”. Mr.Raja, are you not dragging in the fact that Vijay is a Christian which is absolutely irrelevant to the present issue? Are you not spewing communal venom? Nobody has ever bothered about the religion of the actors. That includes great thespians like Dileep Kumar, Mehmood, Waheeda Rahman, etc.

Is it not disgusting to introduce a communal element just because he happens to be the hero? Is it not a cheap shot?

Ironically, Vijay, who had met Narendra Modi during electioneering ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had even lauded demonetisation last year.