Music composer and actor Vijay Antony courted controversy after he made a remark about Jesus Christ and wine. At a press conference on his upcoming film, Romeo, the Tamil star was discussing the culture of drinking and said that alcohol is not a recent find. He then stated that Jesus also drank wine. This statement upset a section of social media users, especially members of the Christian community. This led to a massive backlash. Vijay has issued a statement clarifying his statement.
Penned in Tamil, Vijay said that his statement was taken in the wrong context and assured everyone that he didn’t mean the statement in a wrong context. “It is saddening that my statement was taken out of context and has hurt some of you. I never said anything in a wrong way, and I request you all to not misunderstand it. Even in dreams, I can’t portray someone like Jesus Christ, a person beyond religion, who shed blood and sacrificed himself for people, in a bad light,” he said.
The Indian Express reported that last week, Vijay was discussing his film Romeo with the media when a member of the press asked him about the poster. In the poster, Vijay and his co-star Mrinalini were seen fixing a drink for themselves on the night of their wedding. The journalist asked if the film and the poster was trying to promote drinking among women, Vijay denied and in the process mentioned Jesus Christ.
“Let’s not demarcate that alcohol is only for men. Drinking is for everyone. If men can drink, women too can. I am not promoting drinking. Just saying everything is common for both men and women. If we are to say it is wrong to drink, we should tell it to both genders,” he said.
When asked if the film was trying to blame IT revolution for a rise in women drinking, Vijay said, “Nothing like that. We have been drinking for a long time. We used to drink ‘sarayam’ (now banned in Tamil Nadu). Now, we drink different things. Two thousand years before, even Jesus (Christ) drank wine.”
Directed by Vinayak Vaithianathan, Romeo stars Vijay Antony and Mrinalini Ravi as the protagonists. The supporting cast includes VTV Ganesh, Thalaivasal Vijay, Ilavarasu, Sudha, and Sreeja Ravi. Vijay Antony is also making his debut as a producer with the film under his newly launched production banner, Good Devil Productions. Barath Dhanasekar is handling the music, while Farook J Basha is the cinematographer. The film’s distribution rights have been acquired by Red Giant Movies, with a scheduled release in the upcoming summer, pending an official announcement of the date.
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