'Meenakshi Sundareshwar' makers: Didn't want the film to be stereotypical

Makers of filmmaker Karan Johar backed Meenakshi Sundareshwar on Thursday said the Madurai-set film, starring Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu Dassani, steers clear of regional stereotypes.A section on social media had criticised the films teaser last week for showing a stereotypical representation of South Indians.On the trailer launch of the film on Thursday, debutant director Vivek Soni said his intention was to make a Hindi movie but without turning anything into a caricature.

Makers of filmmaker Karan Johar backed ''Meenakshi Sundareshwar'' on Thursday said the Madurai-set film, starring Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu Dassani, steers clear of regional stereotypes.

A section on social media had criticised the film's teaser last week for showing a stereotypical representation of South Indians.

On the trailer launch of the film on Thursday, debutant director Vivek Soni said his intention was to make a Hindi movie but without turning anything into a caricature. ''We have made a Hindi film set in Madurai. I could have made the entire film in Tamil, but then it would have become a regional film, which wouldn't be a bad thing either because we have some fantastic films there.

''I essentially wanted to make a Hindi film. We didn't want the characters to have an accent, because that would have been stereotypical. It almost looks like you're making fun of the language. There are some Tamil words spoken by the characters to add flavour,'' the director told reporters. The film features Malhotra's character, Meenakshi, as a hardcore Rajinikanth fan. When the teaser was out, some Twitter users had felt using the megastar's name to establish that a character is from Tamil Nadu reeked of a ''North Indian'' gaze. But Soni said that wasn't the case. ''When we talk about Rajinikanth sir, I feel, I know there are a lot of great actors down South, like Ajith, Surya, Vijay, but for me personally, after MGR, there is no bigger superstar than Rajinikanth.

''He is my personal favourite, that is the reason we chose for Meenakshi to sort of follow Rajini sir as such,'' he added.

The Netflix romantic comedy follows the journey of a young couple, Meenakshi and Sundareshwar, who are in a long distance marriage. The film is backed by Johar's Dharmatic Entertainment.

Somen Mishra, the film's co-producer, said people should not jump the gun and run down the film even before watching it.

Mishra said ''Meenakshi Sundareshwar'' has been made with a loving, sensitive lens.

''For a first time filmmaker, it takes them 10-15 years to finally be able to make their first film. So it is important for us to understand what is their gaze, and where they are coming from. ''Their love, passion and honesty builds their gaze, and it can't be exactly similar to what previous filmmakers have done in their films in the past,'' he added. Co-written by Soni and Aarsh Vora, the film will premiere on Netflix on November 5.

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