After Deepika, Swara Bhaskar, now it is turn of Sai Pallavi

Sachchidananda Gautam
Bengaluru

Sai Pallavi is not the first one, targeted by the Hindutva brigade in the Bharatiya Janata Party regime. Earlier Amir Khan, who indicated his wife’s apprehensions about growing intolerance in India and her contemplation of moving out of the country, Deepika Padukone, who supported JNU students, who were assaulted brutally inside the campus, Anurag Kashyap, Richa Chadda, who has criticised the BJP government, Swara Bhaskar, who compared the humiliation of Muslim women over Hijab to the disrobing of Draupadi in Mahabharat was trolled, humiliated and targeted in social media by the Sangh Parivar.

It is a time-tested phenomenon. Few nationalist governments, which are enjoying an “absolute” majority and power love cinema, as it has immense power in shaping the mass perception. These governments will appropriate cinema to achieve their goals and target cine personalities, who don’t subscribe to their views and ideologies.

Of course, the present BJP regime is no exception. The Head of the government enjoys filmy company and allows ‘star’ actors to interview him when the elections are around the corner. The spurt of nationalist movies is nothing but an attempt by a section of Indian cinema to please their masters at the power centre.Films such as Kashmir Files are shown to lawmakers. The Karnataka government went a step ahead by making it tax-free, besides taking legislators in air-conditioned buses to watch that film.

Coming back to Sai Pallavi’s episode, of this serial attack on dissenting voices. Sai Pallavi, while promoting her recently released film Virata Parvam compared Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus with cow vigilantism during an interview with a Telugu Channel. Sharing her views, Sai Pallavi, who is learned and understood, the socio-political and economic situation in the country raised the issue of cow vigilantes attacking a Muslim driver and publicly lynching him barbarically, while her reaction was sought about Kashmir Files.

She also regretted how the frenzied mob beat him forcing him to chant “Jai Sri Ram”. She sought to know the difference between the two separate incidents, which have one umbilical cord relation-religion. Sai Pallavi said: “what I believed is, if you are stronger than me, and you are oppressing me then you are wrong. A big group oppressing a small group of people is wrong. The battle should always be between equals” She added that “it is important that one is a human being first and if you are not, justice won’t be there either on the side of right or the left.”.

But, instead of understanding the message embedded in her well-thought-out, dignified human remark, she was trolled on social media, humiliated by news channels and Bajarang Dal went to the extent of registering a complaint against her. The controversy dogging Sai Pallavi, at a time, her ambitious much-awaited “Virata Parvam” hit the screens, in which she essayed the role of Naxalite Rebel in this film. In a way, she is the protagonist of the film.

She deserves all appreciation for her exceptional performance. Recipient of various awards in the last seven years, Sai Pallavi Senthamarai is the heartthrob of South Indian film and shared the screen with star heroes and carved a niche for herself through her performance. She is known for her universal appeal and dignified portrayals.

She made headlines for rejecting the fairness cream endorsement deal, which would have brought her fortune. Sai Pallavi is the one actor who prefers minimal makeup and this made her quite different from other celebrities in the film industry.

Sai Pallavi hails from Kotagiri in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. Sai Pallavi belongs to the Badaga community, which was deleted from the ST list for an unknown reason after the country got Independence. She completed her medical studies and has yet to register as a medical practitioner. She is a polyglot and fluently speaks her mother tongue Badaga in addition to Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, English, Hindi, besides Georgian languages.

Attempts of her detractors, who are bent upon branding her “Left” will be disappointed. Look at what she said during her “controversial interview”; “I grew up in a neutral environment. I have heard about Left Wing and the Right Wing. Bit I cannot say, who is right and who is wrong”. This is what Sai Pallavi is and continues to be. Need of the hour is to support creative souls of the kind.