Malayalam film Kaduva sparked outrage days after its release due to inappropriate dialogue directed at differently-abled people, prompting its director Shaji Kailas and lead actor Prithviraj Sukumaran to apologise on Sunday.
In a scene from the film, which was released on July 7, the protagonist, played by Prithviraj, was seen making disparaging remarks about differently-abled people and their parents.
Following a massive backlash on social media over the film’s dialogue, Parivaar, an association of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, filed a complaint with the State Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
The State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities has served notices on filmmaker Shaji Kailas and producers Supriya Menon and Listin Stephen, demanding an explanation for the derogatory dialogue.
Meanwhile, Kailas took to Facebook to offer a “heartfelt apology” for the situation.
“I sincerely apologise for the remarks in my film Kaduva that offended the parents of differently abled children.” That movie dialogue was a blunder. I would like to apologise to everyone because I made a mistake. “Neither scriptwriter Jinu, who wrote the dialogue, nor actor Prithviraj, nor I, who shot the scene, were aware of its potential connotations,” Kailas wrote on Facebook.
Prithviraj apologised on Facebook after sharing Shaji Kailas’ post. ”Sorry. It was a blunder. “We recognise and accept it,” the actor wrote.