Malayalam movie ‘Kaduva’ draws flak over derogatory dialogues against differently-abled

By PTI

KOCHI: Days after its release, the Malayalam film ‘Kaduva’ has landed in controversy over certain inappropriate dialogues against differently-abled persons following which its director Shaji Kailas and lead actor Prithviraj Sukumaran tendered an apology on Sunday.

In a scene in the movie which was released on July 7, the protagonist played by Prithviraj was seen making inappropriate comments against differently-abled persons and their parents.

Following huge backlash on social media over the movie dialogue, Parivaar, an association of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, had moved to the State Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

The State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities has issued notices to filmmaker Kailas and producers Supriya Menon and Listin Stephen seeking an explanation for the derogatory dialogues.

Meanwhile, Kailas took to Facebook and tendered a “heartfelt apology” regarding the matter.

“I tender a heartfelt apology for the remarks that hurt the parents of differently-abled children in the movie Kaduva, directed by me. That dialogue in the movie was a mistake. I would request everyone to forgive me as it was human error. Neither did scriptwriter Jinu who penned the dialogue, nor did actor Prithviraj, nor I, who shot the scene, realised its possible connotations,” Kailas wrote in his Facebook post.

Sharing Kailas’ post, Prithviraj also posted an apology on Facebook.

“Sorry. It was a mistake. We acknowledge and accept it,” the actor wrote.

Numerous posts calling out the remarks became viral on social media.