Guwahati: The ‘first look’ poster of an upcoming Tamil movie that was tweeted on Saturday has sparked widespread outrage among the Gorkha community. The poster shows a watchman carrying a kukri or khukuri and wearing Bhadgaule topi, with a dog next to him, and the name of the film ‘Gurkha’ written underneath.
Obviously, the cultural stereotyping and racist portrayal of the Gorkhas as watchmen have not gone down well with the community.
Twitter user Shiva Chettri (@shivachettri) wrote:
This is absolutely deplorable & so #Racist. #Gurkha is the name of a community & not of a profession. There are many Gorkhas who have contributed to this country in so many different fields right from sports to military to education to politics. Eff off with your stereotypes
— Shiva Chettri (@shivachettri) September 15, 2018
Explaining the real meaning of ‘Gorkha’, another user Rakshak Kumar Acharya (@RakshakKumar) tweeted:
#Gorkha/ #Gurkha is a community demanding for the state #Gorkhaland, but rather than denoting this, the word is used to refer those Nepali speaking Indians who work as securitymen in the homes. It’s like strengthening the insulting stereotyping of an entire community.
— Rakshak Kumar Acharya (@RakshakKumar) September 16, 2018
Reasserting the need for a Gorkha identity, a user @GorkhaCheli tweeted:
113.Sir @narendramodi one of the many reasons why we need #Gorkhaland has been tweeted by @Siva_Kartikeyan.We are more than what the film poster portray. We are law abiding citizens marching ahead along with rest of the Nation. Stereotyping our #Gorkha community is Racism. https://t.co/1Mgv9B1tYZ
— Aytirn नृत्य (@GorkhaCheli) September 15, 2018
Following the outrage, Sam Anton, the director of Gurkha, was forced to clarify his stand on the issue. In a series of tweets and replies, he wrote:
@Gorkha12345 hey hi dheeraj.. this is Sam Anton director of the film #GURKHA .. Mr shivakarthikeyan just shared our poster .. I am the one who shud answer u r question .. my house was robbed by hooligans .. I was saved by a gurkha who lived near my house ( tweet 1 of 2)
— sam anton (@samanton21) September 15, 2018
@Gorkha12345 this movie will be glorifying this community .. I consider them as hero’s.. I will not degrade this community cos they saved my life’s ..do watch the film .. it releases next year .. me and my team r proud to make a film in this name .. watch the film and react pls
— sam anton (@samanton21) September 15, 2018
I have read the history.. Please watch the film to know .. I love that community and that’s y I had that title of my movie .. I could have kept some other title and shamed a community in my film.. I have respect and proud of #Gurkha ‘s and their service to the nation.
— sam anton (@samanton21) September 15, 2018
I would never do that .. Please watch my film to understand my portrayal of #Gurkha community .. this will be the first quote of the film .. since me and #sammanekshaw share the same name.. do watch the film pic.twitter.com/YZaIS6tCSn
— sam anton (@samanton21) September 15, 2018
I wanted to show the incident that happened .. do watch the film sir .. I am obliged to reply to u r anger as a creator ..with due respect to the community .. I respect #gurkhas
— sam anton (@samanton21) September 15, 2018