Mani Ratnam gets bomb threat over CCV dialogues

According to sources, the office of Madras Talkies, the filmmaker’s production house, at Mylapore received the call on Monday night, with the caller demanding the removal of supposedly ‘controversial’ dialogue shown in a ‘red light area’ scene in the film Chekka Chivantha Vaanam.

Following this, a team from Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad conducted a thorough search of the premises on Kesava Perumal Kovil Street. However, having found no explosive devices, they declared it a hoax call.  

Sources in the Police Department suspect that members of a fringe outfit, who had complained against the director for criticising a community in the film, may have been behind the prank call. 

This is not the first time that Mani Ratnam has been at the receiving end of bomb threats – and even blasts. In 1995, there was a minor bomb blast near his house. The director was also provided security cover by the government following intelligence reports that his name was on the hit list of terrorists for having made films such as Roja, Bombay and Dil Se – all of which had cross-border terrorism as the backdrop. 

Mani Ratnam’s latest Tamil movie Chekka Chivantha Vaanam starring Arvind Swamy, Vijay Sethupathi, Silambarasan, Arun Vijay, Jyothika, Aditi Rao and other leading stars was released last week. The movie deals with gang war and rivalry within a political family after the chief patriarch dies.