Pa Ranjith Threatened With Legal Action Over Depiction of Buddha in Short Film

The film is a part of an anthology series.

Pa Ranjith’s directorial Dhammam

Photo courtesy: Sony Liv

Pa Ranjith’s Dhammam, which is part of the Victim anthology, released recently on the SonyLIV, has been receiving wide appreciation from critics and audiences.

However, some found a scene in the film objectionable, reported The News Minute. The scene in question showcased a girl climbing on top of Buddha's statue offending her father. He says she is "disrespecting" a "god". To which the girl responds, "Buddha himself has declared that there is no god, and you are calling him a god."

The scene received a strong reaction from the Tamil Nadu Buddhist Sanga Council (TNBSC), who has threatened to take legal action against the director as per the report.

According to the same report, TNBSC said that the scene has hurt the religious sentiments of Buddhists and also demanded that Ranjith remove the objectionable scene and publicly apologise. Moreover, the report stated that the Tamil Nadu government should ban the scene from being shared online stating that several countries consider Buddha a god.

Moreover, as per the report, the TNBSC said that it was not willing to accept any explanation from the director.