TN health department asks Vijay, AR Murugadoss to withdraw Sarkar poster

The Tamil Nadu health department has issued notices to actor Vijay and director AR Murugadoss, asking them to withdraw a poster of their upcoming film Sarkar, that features the actor smoking a cigarette.

According to the notice, the said poster should be removed from all websites and social media networks with immediate effect or legal action will be initiated against the film's makers.

Stating that the government was trying to dissuade the public from smoking, the notice demanded full co-operation from the film industry.

It may be recalled that the film's team had released the first-look poster of Sarkar on 22 June to mark the actor's birthday. However, soon after the poster was revealed, a segment of the audience expressed disappointment. According to them, the actor had broken his promise of not having any scenes of him smoking in any of his films.

The poster also evoked sharp criticism from former union minister of health and family welfare, Anbumani Ramadoss, who tweeted, "Shame on Actor Vijay for promoting Smoking in this first look of his next movie. #ActResponsibly #DoNotPromoteSmoking."

A police complaint too was filed against the actor and the director. The complainant, a lawyer, said the poster could motivate the actor's fans to smoke. He demanded that scenes showing the actor smoking be removed from the film.