Vijay Deverakonda's Kingdom makers deny disrespecting Sri Lankan Tamils: ‘This is a completely fictional story’

Vijay Deverakonda's Kingdom makers deny disrespecting Sri Lankan Tamils: ‘This is a completely fictional story’

The makers of the recently released film Kingdom, starring Vijay Deverakonda and directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, have issued an official statement addressing allegations made by Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) regarding the film’s portrayal of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The controversy arose after NTK accused the film of demeaning the Tamil community, particularly the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) fighters and Eezham Tamils.

In response, the film’s production house, Sithara Entertainments, released a statement denying any such depiction and clarified that Kingdom is a fictional narrative with no connection to real-life events or historical references.

"We hereby confirm that we respect the sentiments of the Tamil people, and we promise that there are no such scenes which are involved in the movie that resemble hurting the sentiments of the local state people. This story is completely a fictional story and an imaginary one, and it has been mentioned in the disclaimer portion of the movie," the statement read.

The production house also expressed regret if the film had unintentionally hurt the sentiments of viewers. “In such a case, if the sentiments of the people are hurt, we regret the incident. We kindly request you to support the movie,” the statement concluded.

Despite the clarification, protests by NTK cadres have taken place outside several theatres in Tamil Nadu, particularly in Madurai and Trichy.

Also Read: Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola hospitalised in Italy for following U.S. tour

The party has demanded a ban on the film’s screening. NTK State Propaganda Secretary Saravanan criticized the film, saying, “The movie demeans LTTE fighters and Eezham Tamils. They fought for 30 years and died, but are shown as enslaved people living in the mountain areas. This is an attempt to twist historical facts, and we can’t allow it.”

In light of the protests, the film’s distributors in Tamil Nadu have approached the Madras High Court seeking police protection to ensure safe screenings.

Kingdom, which hit theatres on July 31 in multiple languages, opened to a strong box office start. However, the film has witnessed a gradual decline in collections over the past few days. Set in Sri Lanka, the film narrates the journey of a police officer who turns spy and eventually becomes the protector of a remote tribe known as Divi.