Shaji Kailas and Prithviraj apologise after an 'insensitive' scene in Kaduva offends parents of specially-abled children

Kaduva and its makers received backlash from the audience, who felt that the dialogue in the movie was insensitive towards parents of specially-abled children.

Kaduva, led by Prithviraj Sukumaran, has been one of the big Malayalam movies to recently hit theatres. While the movie came with a lot of fanfare, it ran into some trouble following its release, after viewers felt that a dialogue in the movie was insensitive towards the fathers of specially-abled children. Director Shaji Kailas and Prithviraj have now taken to social media to apologise.

Shaji Kailas took to Facebook to write a note, which started off by saying that he apologises for the dialogue in the movie that hurts the feelings of parents of specially-abled children. He added that neither he, the actor, nor the scribe thought about any other angle regarding the dialogue when it was executed and that they only wanted to showcase the cruel actions of the movie’s villain with the dialogue.

He also wrote that this is something that is heard uttered in real life and also pointed out a verse from the Bible that was similar. He ended the note by saying that he saw comments from hurt parents and that he would like to apologise for hurting their feelings.

Prithviraj, whose character Kaduvakunnel Kuriyachan delivers the dialogue in question, also took to Twitter to issue an apology. Sharing the director’s apology, he wrote, "Sorry. It was a mistake. We acknowledge and accept it."

The protagonist can be heard saying that differently abled children are born with such conditions as a result of the sins of their parents in the movie. This sparked a row with the audience, and State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities S.H. Panchapakesan issued a notice to the makers seeking an explanation.

Marking Shaji’s return to Malayalam cinema after a long gap, the movie is backed by Prithviraj Productions and Magic Frames. Kaduva, also starring Vivek Oberoi, Samyuktha Menon, Innocent, and Arjun Ashokan, is now playing in theatres across the country.

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