A scene from Suirya starrer Jai Bhim, which was released on Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday, has sparked a debate after the character essayed by versatile actor Prakash Raj slaps another man. Critics who watched Jai Bhim have pointed out that the character is slapped as he tries to cover his tracks by speaking in Hindi. In one of the scene, where Prakash Raj is shown slapping a Hindi-speaking pawn broker, asking him to speak in Tamil instead, has not gone down well with a section of the audience, who took to Twitter to express their displeasure.
One user named Rohit Jaiswal said, “I am really heartbroken after watching #JaiBhim, nothing against actor or anyone but felt really bad, there is a scene in the film where a person speaks Hindi and Prakash Raj slaps him and tells him to speak in Tamil. Honestly this kind of scene was not needed. Hope they cut it.”
Another Twitter user named Udhav Naig said: He uses Hindi to obfuscate the truth about his involvement in a crime. He collaborates with Tamil criminals. This has nothing to do with being slapped for speaking in Hindi.
Ram Mani Tiwari: Sorry, this is another kind of Paranoia where (some) Tamil people feel Hindi is imposed on them. I am a Hindi speaking guy but while studying in Coimbatore I learnt Tamil happily and I love speaking Tamil. Does it make me anti-Hindi?
Bharathvasi Siva : If that was the intention, why in Hindi version Prakashraj says “Sach Bolo’ (Tell the truth). Same thing could have been in Tamil, Telugu too. That person is Marwari and speaks in his mother language. Forcing him to speak tamil is what imposition.