Audiences watching their favorite Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran’s just released film ‘Kaduva‘ in the theatres were shocked to hear a horrifyingly insensitive, harsh, tone-deaf dialogue in the film. It was a dialogue they simply didn’t expect to be in a Prithviraj Sukumaran film. Right at the start of Kaduva, Prithviraj Sukumaran‘s character points to the villain’s (Vivek Oberoi) son, who is clearly autistic, and says that children have to pay for the deeds of their parents. He clearly means to say that the disability of the child is the result of his father’s wrongdoings.
The dialogue hit viewers hard; especially those viewers who were differently-abled themselves or were parents of differently-abled children. A number of viewers took to social media to condemn the insensitive dialogue in the film. A few parents of autistic children reported that they started crying in the theatre when the sequence played on the screen. Many parents posted about how hurt they felt after watching the scene. Following the uproar, the makers of Kaduva have been served with a notice by the State Commission for Persons with Disabilities. This was after Parivaar, an association of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, appealed to the Commission to take action against Kaduva makers.
The backlash against them has compelled star Prithviraj Sukumaran and director Shaji Kailas to post an apology for the thoughtless, inconsiderate scene and dialogue in Kaduva. While Shaji Kailas has written a long Facebook post, apologising for the scene, Prithviraj Sukumaran posted just a cryptic, one-line apology that said, “Sorry. It was a mistake. We acknowledge and accept it. ”
Which brings us to the question – is a simple, half-hearted apology enough to wipe out the hurt felt by parents of differently-abled children? After all, that one insensitive line in the film of an influential star like Prithviraj Sukumaran has undone and undermined years of efforts of organisations working to sensitise the common public about autism.
Autism is one of the most misunderstood disabilities in India. Autistic children are routinely labelled mental, retarded, and worse, ‘mad’. Parents of autistic children have to hear all sorts of things from friends and family, mostly along the lines of what Prithviraj Sukumaran’s character says in Kaduva. Imagine the effect of an influential star saying the same thing on screen – it is like he’s reaffirming what unaware people already think and believe.
If Prithviraj Sukumaran is truly apologetic about his thoughtless dialogue in Kaduva, he has to go over and beyond a simple apology. The first thing to do is edit out or redub that offending scene in Kaduva. Outreach programmes and videos to educate the common public about autism would be the ideal thing to do. Awareness in India on autism is very low as compared to foreign countries. Autism awareness drives in India would work wonders to change the perception of the common public about the disability if spearheaded by a star of the stature of Prithviraj Sukumaran.
So are you up to it, Prithviraj Sukumaran?
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