Kadai Kutty Singam, which stars Karthi and is produced by Suriya, is in trouble due to the ‘rekla’ race sequence.
The film’s producers had approached the Animal Welfare Board of India for permission to shoot the scene which involves 211 cows and oxen, 48 cocks and 32 birds. The board, however, denied permission citing that the Supreme Court has banned the sport. That didn’t stop the makers from shooting the scene.
This came to light when Suriya shared a video of the shooting spot on Twitter:
Revisited some beautiful childhood memories with Dev..#Rekla #KKS #KadaiKuttySingam #Nostalgia #Culture pic.twitter.com/0e4FvqwWjQ
— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) January 30, 2018
Shooting spot..! #Rekla #KKS #KadaiKuttySingam #Nostalgia #Culture pic.twitter.com/GYGuNDGIoa
— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) January 30, 2018
Vijay’s Diwali release, Mersal, which also had scenes involving animals ran into trouble following which the producers removed the scenes from the film.
Meanwhile, a few animal rights activists from Tamil Nadu has asked the AWBI to take strong action against the makers.
Spokesperson for AWBI SP Gupta told The New Indian Express that if the violation is proved, then the board would file a formal complaint and ask the State government to initiate action.
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Raja, the manager of 2D Entertainment – Suriya’s production company, declared that they have received permission from the collector of Pudukkotai to shoot the scene which almost includes 140 bull carts. He also added that rekla races are conducted all over the state.
Rekla (bullock cart) races were banned by Supreme Court in 2014 along with Jallikattu. Though, an amendment was made by the Tamil Nadu State legislature to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960 to enable conduct of jallikattu, Rekla race is still considered to be banned since it has not been specifically mentioned in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act of 2017, according to The New Indian Express report.
Kadai Kutty Singam is directed by Pandiraj who has previously made films such as Pasanga, Pasanga 2 and Marina. This is Pandiraj’s the first collaboration with Karthi.
Pic Courtesy: cinemaexpress.com