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Controversies & Topics that trended in Tamil cinema in 2020!

PUBLISHED DATE : 12/Dec/2020

Controversies & Topics that trended in Tamil cinema in 2020!

2020 may have been restrictive and challenging but it managed to keep us entertained in its own bizarre way. The Tamil film industry made it to the trends for its share of ups and downs this year, and below is a collection of topics and controversies that made heads turn in 2020.

 

1. Vijay's Neyveli Selfie
An IT investigation into a notorious financier made actor Vijay a by-target and he was infamously escorted out of his film's shooting at Neyveli back to his residence at Chennai. While officials didn't find anything worth immediate-incrimination, the incident had become a clear case of political-targetting and Vijay as a response to his clear name had posted a selfie that went viral.


The 'Neyveli selfie' ended up being the most RT-ed tweet of 2020 in the whole of India.

2. Draupadi Movie Controversy
2020 began with a controversy surrounding a crowd-funded movie about reverse caste discrimination. Uproar arose to the 'demonizing of dalits' and 'justification of honour killings' showcased in the movie's trailer which had dropped amidst Rajinikanth's Darbar release craze that week.


But what was supposed to be a blink-and-miss video, ended up trending at No. 15 position on YouTube and currently stands with over 6 million views. Petitions were filed by multiple political leaders to stop Draupadi's release, which eventually ended up being an agenda-focussed mediocre film.

3. Jyotika & the Tanjavur Temple conundrum
If lockdown had people bored out of their minds, the Tanjavur Temple controversy literally stirred the pot creating an influx of negative reactions from the Tamil cine audience. TL;DR Jyotika while receiving an award made a speech about how people should donate more to schools and hospitals and mentioned not visiting the historic Brihadeeshwara temple due to the dilapidated state of a government hospital located nearby [compare not visiting the the Ambani house because of the state of Mumbai slums and appealing to the public to donate what they would spend on Reliance products].


Not sure if it was the lockdown or the over-enthusiastic gate-keeping by politically aligned names, Jyotika ended up receiving a ton of hate from the public before Suriya stepped in and stood firm by her stance.

4. Suriya's Red-Card Threat
Closely following the Tanjavur controversy, Suriya and Jyotika drew the ire of theater owners in Tamil Nadu when they decided to premiere their home production Ponmagal Vandhal directly through OTT. Things got so bad that the association representing screen owners even issued a 'red-card' threat for future movies of theirs and their families. 

As fans feared the fate of Suriya's big budget film Soorarai Pottru, he surprised everyone by deciding to release it too directly on OTT, further displeasuring theater owners.

5. Vanitha Vijayakumar
Actress Vanitha Vijayakumar's name was difficult to miss in the Tamil media news spalshes of 2020. She was making noise for her personal life and her third marriage, divorce to a man named Peter Paul bizzarely lead to feuds with producer Raveendran and actress Lakshmi Ramakrishanan, making her the subject of public interest.

6. Meera Mithun
Another Bigg Boss Tamil 3 contestant who hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons this year was Meera Mithun who launched a deragatory attack on the spouses of actor Vijay and Suriya. She claimed it was in response to the toxic fan bases of the these said actors. A Tamil Kangana Ranaut (minus a film career), if you will.


7. Suriya's High Court Tiff
"The court, which administers justice through video conferencing because of the corona scare, orders students to go and write exams without fear" - This line from actor's Suriya's statement in support of students taking NEET exams created a huge furore and a letter was written to the Chief Justice to proceed criminal contempt action against the actor.

However the chief justice and a Madras High Court bench let him off with a warning and decided against proceeding with any legal actions.

8. Vijay-SA Chandrasekhar Fued
The most unexpected feuds of 2020 was probably between actor Vijay and his father S.A. Chandrasekhar. The veteran director's sudden interest in converting one of his son's fan clubs into an official political organization and Vijay's public threat of legal consequences instead of picking up a phone left a bad taste even among fans.


Between Vijay's mother revealing a strained relationship between the father and son and SAC lamenting about 'vested interests' as reason for the same, the controversy ended its course.


9.Rajinikanth and Politics

Rajinikanth's entry into politics may no longer keep onlookers on the edge but it sure does interest them to great extent. What's went down this year though was after strong suggestions of him re-thinking his political career due to a deteriorating health, the actor confirmed that his party would officially debut in the 2021 elections and that details of the same will be unveiled on New Year's eve.

National party BJP and its regional ally the AIADMK has also been seen giving a 'warm welcome' to Rajinikanth's political entry.

 

 

10.Bigg Boss Tamil

The second-half of 2020's COVID-19 era was all about the reality TV show Bigg Boss Tamil. With TV serial productions halted due to COVID, the Tamil TV audience had turned their entire focus to their only solace at that time.



From anticipation on how socially distanced house inmates would look to predictions about Kamal Haasan's televised political campaign, the buzz created every year for the show was multifold this year. Bigg Boss Tamil Season 4 which is currently still on air fire-worked some and fizzed-out some.

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