Kerala Police Files Complaint Against Poster of Mohanlal’s Lucifer for Disrespecting Force

Mohanlal-starrer Lucifer has come under fire for allegedly disrespecting the police force. On Tuesday, celebrating the success of Lucifer at the box office, a new promotional poster of the film was released.

In the poster, the handcuffed actor can be seen threatening a police officer by resting his foot on the chest of an officer. It also has a dialogue which roughly translates to, 'How dare you touch my boys?'.

The poster courted controversy after it was slammed by the Kerala Police Association (KPA). Reportedly, the association has raised a complaint by writing to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and is demanding action against such posters.

In their complaint, KPA asserts that such content creates lawlessness and promotes criminal activity among the youth. According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, a part of the complaint read, "This advertisement also has a title which sends a wrong message to people. No action against such posters undoubtedly creates lawlessness. Earlier, criminals were attacking police, but nowadays our youth is also involved in such criminal acts."

"Scenes showing the usage of tobacco and liquor and not wearing helmets have statutory warnings displayed on the screens and posters. The scenes and posters showing an attack against police should also be made illegal," the complaint added.

Before this, the film was accused of hurting the church and Christian values. In a lengthy Facebook post, Christian Democratic Movement of Kerala alleged that the Prithviraj Sukumaran-directed movie was "against our faith as the believers find Lucifer as devil."

"We should be aware of the hidden tragedy of Malayalam film industry which invites cheering for Satan and his name by maligning the church, Christian values and sacrament,” the post in Malayalam read. The post, which has been liked by over a thousand people, further stated, "Christians find Lucifer as satan’s name and it will remain so forever."

The political thriller, which released on Thursday, is popular actor Prithviraj Sukumaran's debut project as a director. Lucifer also features Vivek Oberoi, Indrajith Sukumaran, Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier and Kalabhavan Shajohn in key roles.