Prithviraj Sukumaran in his recent film called Kaduva received criticism for being insensitive toward differently-abled children. After receiving flak from the audience, Prithviraj took to social media to apologise and admit his mistake. He captioned the post, writing, "Sorry. It was a mistake. We acknowledge and accept it." Shaji Kailas took to facebook to post the apology and Prithviraj posted the same on his Instagram.
Shaji wrote in Malayalam that he apologies for the reference that caused hurt to the parents of differently-abled children in my film Kaduva. He also went on to say that it wasn't intentional and requested to be forgiven for his human error.
He added that the truth is that neither the screenwriter Jinu while writing such a dialogue, nor the hero Prithviraj while preparing for the scene, nor did think about it that way.
He went on to say, "The only intention was to convince him and the audience of the cruelty of the villain's actions. For ages we hear the words that the consequences of what we do will be felt by our future generations. (Remember the Bible saying, 'The fathers ate green grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge') Whenever people talk about the results of their children's actions, people repeat it."
He added, "Those words that came from Prithviraj's character in this movie were also human. A perfectly ordinary man, oblivious to wrongs or their emotional implications, sees them as mere words. This does not imply that children with disabilities suffer as a result of the actions of their parents. There is never such a thing, even in our remotest thoughts."
He concluded his post by writing, "I am a father who loves his children. I also understand the pain of seeing our own children in pain, even if it a little. So I can understand the mental state of parents of differently-abled children without anyone else telling me. The parents' notes showed that the words in the movie were hurt them. But also please understand that the most precious thing in the world is your children and you live for them... Sorry...Once again, I apologize knowing that these words will not solve your emotional distress."
Kaduva also stars Vivek Oberoi and Samyukhta Menon in important roles.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)