Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday waded into the controversy over Tamil film Mersal, telling Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not interfere in the film.

He tweeted: “Mr Modi, cinema is a deep expressoin of Tamil culture and language. Don’t try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal.”

Earlier in the day, former Union Minister P Chidambaram had said that filmmakers should note that soon they would be able to direct only documentaries praising the government’s policies.

Media reports on Friday said that the producers of the Vijay-starrer had decided to remove scenes that the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed were insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of the Centre’s policies.

The state BJP were the first to take offense to scenes in which the character played by Vijay takes a dig at the government for introducing the Goods and Services Tax, and its decision last year to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Chidambaram also wondered what would happen if the iconic Tamil film Parasakthi were to release today. The Sivaji Ganesan-starrer stirred numerous controversies when it released and was accused of portraying Brahmins and Hindu customs in a negative light.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Tamil actor Kamal Haasan came out in support of Mersal’s producers. “Mersal was certified. Don’t re-censor it...Don’t silence critics,” he urged. Haasan has announced his intention to join politics.