Censors scissor atheist film

Chennai, Oct 28 (IANS): Tamil film "Puratchikkaran" has raised an unusual censorship controversy - over atheism.

The film, which preaches atheism in the unreserved terms of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy Naicker, founder of the Dravidian movement, has suffered 25 cuts at the hands of Tamil Nadu's censor officials, say its director Velu Prabhakaran and dialogue-writer Jeyadevi.

Prabhakaran says he accepted the cuts because he did not want the film's release to be delayed indefinitely. He, however, minces no words about the "unfairness" of the censorship.

In an interview with a Tamil film magazine, he cites the example of the censors' disapproval of the lines spoken by a character: "Only in this country which worships Saraswati are there so many illiterates. Only in this country which worships Lakshmi are there so many poor people and beggars."

This is a thought Periyar expressed long ago, Prabhakaran recalls.

Prabhakaran says the censors also cut out another scene that voices criticism of the practice of feeding snakes milk.

Another victim of the censors' scissors is a scene where viewers are told that smallpox can be prevented by vaccination and not by "dancing in front of temples".

Jeyadevi is even more outspoken. She said to a website: "No matter they have passed the highest examination of the land, the IAS. They do not hesitate at all to approve of the so-called religious films, which spread blind faiths of all kinds. In my opinion, they are...hypocrites and highly selfish."