Oru Adaar Love song controversy: SC halts all criminal proceedings against Priya Prakash Varrier

Priya Prakash Varrier had petitioned to the Supreme Court to quash an FIR lodged against her in Telangana. She had also requested the court to prohibit states from initiating criminal proceedings against her.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed all criminal proceedings against actor Priya Prakash Varrier and asked states not to entertain any complaints against the 18-year-old actor. Varrier, who recently became a winking sensation after a song in her debut Malayalam movie Oru Adaar Love went viral, had on February 19 petitioned the court for quashing an FIR lodged against her in Telangana. The teen actor, whose now-famous wink spawned memes, also requested the court to prohibit states from initiating criminal proceedings against her.

Priya Prakash Varrier stars in the upcoming Malayalam film, Oru Adaar Love.

The FIR and complaints against the BCom student allege that the lyrics of the song Manikya Malaraya Poovi were “offensive” and “violated the religious sentiment of a particular community”.

While the FIR was registered in Telangana, complaints were made against the actor and the filmmaker in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The song had been around for four decades but there had been no complaints, the actor said.

“The song describes and praises the love between Prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadija. It should be important to note that the song is originally from an old folk song from Kerala which was written in 1978 by PMA Jabbar and first sung by Thalassery Rafeeq, in the praise of the Prophet and his wife Beevi Khadija,” the actor said.

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