Writer B. Jeyamohan’s blog post on the Malayalam film ‘Manjummel Boys’ kicked up a storm in social media on Sunday, with the writer facing a backlash over several sweeping statements and derogatory comments that he made on Malayalis. The film, based on a real-life survival story involving a group of Malayali friends visiting the Guna Caves in Kodaikanal, has been a major box office success in Tamil Nadu too.
Jeyamohan, who hails from Kanyakumari, has authored books and scripted films both in Tamil and Malayalam. The author said that he was irked by the much celebrated film, which he saw just as a “celebration of some wayward drunkards”. He lashed out at the film buffs of Tamil Nadu for their adulatory comments on the film. In the rest of the long blog post, he makes generalised statements on Malayalis, especially the tourists, whom he accused of engaging in excessive drinking and vomiting, lacking basic decency and creating havoc inside protected forests and at tourist spots with their irresponsible behaviour.
Govt. action sought
The writer even expresses a wish that such groups get trapped in gorges, as shown in the movie, and die, which according to him should be seen as nature’s punishment. He accused Malayalam cinema of celebrating drunken behaviour and drugs and demanded the government to take action against such filmmakers. He further goes on to allege that Malayalis are reluctant to learn other languages and expect others to learn theirs. For many of the references to Malayalis, he has used derogatory adjectives.
With the complete translation of the blog post written in Tamil going viral on social media, there was a flurry of comments against Mr. Jeyamohan for what many saw as hateful and generalised statements on an entire population. Though a few agreed with his criticism of drunken behaviour in tourist spots, even they disagreed with the overall tone of the article. Some pointed out that such behaviour can be seen among groups in that age group from any State.
‘A welcoming State’
Most of those who responded opposed his comments on Malayalis not being receptive to other languages, with many pointing out the fact that Kerala has always opened its arms to films and songs from other languages, quite a few of which have become superhits here. The comments have also evoked strong reactions from Tamil social media users, a majority of whom disagreed with such a negative portrayal of Malayalis.
