Ananth Mahadevan pushes Phule's release after objection: ‘It is not an agenda film’

Pratik Gandhi in a still from Phule

Coinciding with Mahatma Jyotirao Phule's birth anniversary on April 11, director Ananth Mahadevan's film, Phule, was set to arrive in theatres this week. But not anymore. The makers have decided to push the Pratik Gandhi-starrer's release by two weeks, after sections of the Brahmin community have raised doubts over their representation in the film. "Many letters and notices have come from different Brahmin organisations. There is some misunderstanding after the trailer was launched. We want to clear those doubts so that there is no hassle in viewership," shares the director.

Director Ananth Mahadevan

The biopic, written by Mahadevan and Muazzam Beg, traces how the social reformer and his wife Savitribai Phule fought casteism and championed women's education in the 19th century. Akhil Bhartiya Brahmin Samaj and Parshuram Aarthik Vikas Mahamandal are among the organisations that have expressed their concern over the film. "When I met the representatives [of the Akhil Bhartiya Brahmin Samaj] and told them about how we've shown that [certain] Brahmins helped Jyotiba Phule set up 20 schools, they were happy. When Phule opened the Satyashodhak Samaj, these Brahmins were the pillars. I'm a staunch Brahmin. Why will I [malign] my community? We have only shown the facts. It's not an agenda film," states the director.

Does he intend to show Phule to these sections before its release? That's a hard no for Mahadevan. "It'll look as if we are justifying the film. You justify something if you're guilty. They can see the film when it releases. The CBFC [Central Board of Film Certification] gave it a U certificate."

April 25
The biopic's new release date