Protesters tear posters, demand ban on Vijay Deverakonda's Kingdom for villainous portrayal of Sri Lankan Tamils

Cadres from Naam Thamizhar Katchi (NTK) held a protest outside theatres in Tirchy, demanding a ban on Gowtam Tinnanuri's Kingdom.

Gowtam Tinnanuri’s Vijay Deverakonda, Satyadev, Venkitesh and Bhagyashri Borse-starrer Kingdom ran into trouble for its portrayal of Sri Lankan Tamils. Cadres from the Naam Thamizhar Katchi (NTK), a pro-Tamil party, held protests outside theatres screening Kingdom in Madurai, Trichy and demanded a ban on the film’s screening. Videos of them tearing down the film’s posters are also doing the rounds on social media.

Venkitesh played a Sri Lankan Tamil called Murugan who faces off against Vijay Deverakonda's Suri.

Protest against Vijay Deverakonda’s Kingdom

One video taken at the Jagan Theatre in Ramanathapuram shows protesters climbing up the roof of the theatre despite the police presence and ripping down the Kingdom poster. Sharing it, an X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, “#Kingdom - banners torn by the members of Naam Tamizhar Katchi to protest bad portrayal of Eelam tamils in the movie!”

Saravanan, State Propaganda Secretary of NTK spoke to the press and India Today reported him saying, “The movie demeans LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) fighters and Eezham Tamils. They fought for 30 years and died, but are shown as enslaved people living in the mountain areas. This is an attempt to twist historical facts, and we can’t allow it. They have not had justice until now, and many are still missing. Naam Thamizhar Katchi won’t tolerate such acts of hurting them.”

Members of the political outfit were also reportedly furious that the makers named Venkitesh's character, the film’s antagonist, after the Tamil deity Lord Murugan. They took offence to Sri Lankan Tamils being portrayed as villains. The protesters also reportedly met with prominent theatre management and only left after they were assured a meeting would be held between distributors to halt the screening of the film. The distributors, however, have approached the Madras High Court seeking police protection.

About Kingdom

Gowtam’s action drama film Kingdom tells the story of a police constable turned spy called Suri (Vijay) and his long-lost brother Siva (Satyadev). It shows a tribe from Srikakulam migrating to a small island in Sri Lanka called Divi to escape the wrath of the British colonisers. The film also explores how the immigrants are exploited by a local cartel led by Odiyappan (Baburaj) and his son Murugan (Venkitesh). Kingdom was released in theatres on 31 July and has collected over ₹82 crore worldwide. It was dubbed in all south Indian languages and Hindi.