Will the AWBI stall Karthi’s film for shooting rekla race?

For the last few days, pictures of rekla race from Karthi’s Kadai Kutty Singam has been widely circulated on social media by fans after the actor’s brother and the producer of the film, Suriya, posted photographs of himself at the shooting spot with the race happening in the background. But now, it looks like the film has gotten into trouble as the officials from Performing Animals Sub Committee (PASC) of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has come out stating the permission for rekla race shooting was denied by the committee and that the makers went ahead with the shoot without any approval.
‘They said that rekla race won’t be shown in the film’
When they approached us for the pre-shoot permission with the synopsis of the film, we rejected it straightaway. Rekla race is banned by the Supreme Court. So, they said that rekla race won’t be shown in the film. Later, it’s only when Suriya uploaded photos of the rekla race from the film’s shooting spot that we came to know about it. Despite us denying permission to shoot rekla race, they went ahead with it. Now, they will be facing legal consequences.
— A PASC member
‘Rekla races are legal in TN’
Speaking to us, Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian, CEO and director of Suriya’s production house, clarified, “The AWBI has not given permission going by the Supreme Court’s ruling, but they have not taken into consideration the amendment that has been made by the Tamil Nadu government to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which makes conducting not just jallikattu but also rekla races legal in the state.”
In December 2017, the government had contested a PIL that claimed that conducting rekla races violated the Supreme Court’s ban, and the PIL was dismissed then.
Rajsekar added, “The AWBI should have asked us for clarification and given us an opportunity to present our case. We applied for prior permission, which is not technically necessary, because they can also be on the spot. We shot these scenes during an actual rekla race competition. As such, there are very few bulls in our state and we could get them in huge numbers only during such an event. This was organised in Thirumayam (near Pudukottai) by president of the committee for rekla races in Tamil Nadu, and we shot on the sidelines of the event, with vehicles for the
hero, the villain and a few other characters.”
Once we get the order officially from them, we will be giving them a reply stating all these facts, he said.