'Daiva' Crashes Kantara Chapter 1 Screening, Netizens Miffed: Not Divine, It's An Insult

While Kantara: Chapter 1 is doing good business at the box office and has comfortably crossed the ₹200 crore mark in its domestic run in the extended first weekend, fans are leaving no stone unturned to make this moment into a carnival of sorts. However, a stunt from a cinemagoer backfired when he turned up dressed as a Daiva and crashed the screening of the movie, reportedly in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.

As the video went viral, many pointed out that dressing up as a Daiva can only be done by certain individuals who are performing rituals for years and not by everyone. Moreover, some shared that such acts require specific settings and can't be done everywhere.

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"The Daivas can be personified only by people from designated communities, and these people follow a strict regimen for several days leading up to the Kola. Acts like these, if anything, are insulting to the beliefs of Karavali Hindus (sic)," read a comment over the viral video. Another one said, "This is not divine moment… this is just a mockery of our culture…. It shouldn’t be encouraged at all…"

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What happened during the screening of Kantara: Chapter 1?

During a screening of the film at a theatre in Dindigul, a fan dressed as a Daiva made a dramatic entrance inside the venue. The security guards were seen trying to intervene, but the man continued to walk theatrically up and down in the theatre. The audience was stunned by this gesture and some seemed taken aback. Several videos of the moment have surfaced on social media and have caught everyone's attention, leading to backlash for such "dressing up". While showing up at movie screenings as a character onscreen is quite common among fans, the role play as Daiva brushed many the wrong way.