The ongoing controversy regarding potholes on the roads in Kerala got another twist, as an advertisement for a latest Malayalam film asked people to come watch it in theatres—despite the said potholes in the roads.
The Malayalam movie ‘Nnna Thaan Case Kodu’ (Then You Go File a Case) advertised asking viewers to come see the film with the catchline ‘Vazhiyil Kuzhiyindu, ennalum vannekkane’ (There are potholes in the road, but still come).
This triggered strong reactions from Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) supporters, who considered it a criticism against the state government over bad roads. The party supporters started a campaign against the film on social media, asking people to boycott it, while another section supported the catchline.
Kerala witnessed a massive dissension over the bad condition of major roads in the state, which even led to fatal accidents and invited the high court’s harsh criticism.
The atrociously maintained national highways and state roads, that led to dangerous potholes, gained denunciation for both the CPM-led Left Democratic Front government in the state, and the Bharatiya Janata Party at the centre.
Actor Kunchacko Boban, who stars in the film, said the catchline was not aimed at insulting any government, but to highlight a social issue which is also related to the movie. It needed to be taken in the right sense, he appealed to the public.
Kerala public works minister P A Mohammed Riyas, too, said the catchline should only be considered as a promotional tactic for the film.
Riyas’s recent censure of the central government, over potholes on national highways, had triggered a counter-campaign against the state government over the badly maintained state roads.
After external affairs minister S Jaishankar, and minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan, reviewed a still-in-progress work on a national highway by-pass in Thiruvananthapuram last month, Riyas had commented that union ministers should also count the potholes on the national highways.