“Dravidian Stock ‘Dude’: Keerthiswaran Justifies His Film That Glorifies Adultery And Deranged Moral Decay Saying TN Is “Periyar’s Land” ”, The Commune, October 22, 2025
“The director of Dude, Keerthiswaran, has unabashedly proclaimed his ideological loyalty to E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (hailed as “Periyar” by his followers) while defending a film that tramples upon the sanctity of marriage, romanticises extra-marital affairs, and parades moral decay as “progressive values.”
The film’s plot revolves around Agan, a man who willingly gives up his wife to another man and later pretends to be the father of her child. The story — which would anywhere else be called a moral collapse — is being celebrated by a section of gen-z Dravidianists and leftists.
Speaking to the media over its alleged commercial success, “This film is creating debates. What I feel is this is Tamil Nadu. In this state, many ‘elders’ (periyavunga) have lived. One ‘periyavar’ (referring to anti-Hindu bigot EV Ramasamy Naicker) has also lived. They’ve said so many things. We’re just followers of them and talking about it. In Tamil Nadu, these statements are not new. Many have told this before. We as next-gen are carrying it forward and will continue to talk about it. But it will be conveyed entertainingly within cinema that is accepted by audience in large scale, that’s my wish……”
Read full article at thecommunemag.com
