Mersal dialogues on GST trigger storm, makers decide to delete them

A storm is brewing in the Tamil film industry with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking exception to some dialogues in actor Vijay's film, Mersal.

Directed by Atlee Kumar, the film features three popular heroines Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kajal Aggarwal and Nithya Menon in the lead roles and has a sequence in which Vijay is shown coming down hard on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced in July by the BJP government.

Vijay asks why a state that charges 28% GST is unable to provide free quality medical care to its citizens while a small country like Singapore, which charges a mere 7% GST, is able to do so.

The BJP was quick to react, taking offence at the comparison. Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundarararjan demanded that the dialogues on GST and Digital India be removed. She accused Vijay of spreading wrong information as he intends to enter politics.

The issue seems to have triggered a storm in both political and film circles in Tamil Nadu. With the issue generating a lot of heat, sources say the Mersal team has decided to delete the scenes. But that has not gone down well with the actor's fans.