WHAT’S THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT?

All it took to make Priya Prakash Varrier’s song go viral was a flirty wink, and the old Mappila song, Manikya Malaraya Poovi. Days after the song went viral, the film’s producer, Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy, director, Omar Lulu and Varrier found themselves at the centre of a controversy.

The police in Hyderabad booked the makers of the film after locals complained that the song hurt the sentiments of Muslims.

In Mumbai, the Raza Academy, a Sunni Barelvi organisation, also complained to the police and censor board and requested I&B minister, Smriti Irani, to have the song removed from the film, Oru Adaar Love.

The filmmakers have said the song is about the love between the Prophet and his first wife Khadija, but protestors say that songs about the

Prophet should not be sung in films.

Varrier and the makers of the film moved the Supreme Court, saying the complaints violated their freedom of expression. The SC has stayed criminal proceedings in the case, and also restrained all state governments from registering further FIRs against the actor and the director for the song. In an interview, the producer, Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy, said that those protesting against the song may have misunderstood it in translation and that there has been no protest in Kerala.

The song, originally written by PMR Jabbar in the 1970s, is a festive Mappila song, and often sung at weddings and ceremonies.