Kamal Haasan has defended National Award-winning Tamil director Vetrimaaran's assertion that Raja Raja Chola wasn't a Hindu king, which generated controversy.
When Vetrimaaran added, "It all started at an event I attended," he raised a few eyebrows "Although Raja Raja Chozlan was not a Hindu, the BJP is attempting to steal our identity. The attempt to saffronize Thiruvalluvar has already been made. Never should we permit that."
Then, Kamal Hassan expressed a similar viewpoint by saying, "During the reign of Raja Raja Chola, there was no such thing as the "Hindu religion." The British invented the term "Hindu" because they didn't know how to refer to Vainavam, Shaivam, and Samanam combined. Similar to how Tuticorin was created out of Thuthukudi."
Vetrimaaran's remarks came just a day after the release of the film 'Ponniyin Selvan: 1' which is based on a fictional novel inspired by Raja Raja Chola.
Although Vetrimaaran did find support from Mr Haasan, BJP slammed the director. BJP leader H Raja has stated that Raja Raja Chola was indeed a Hindu king.