What more can a creator do?

As expected, 'Aayirathil Oruvan' is facing lot of criticism that it is 'illogical', a slander on the 'holy' Chola dynasty etc. Tamils often tend to drool on anything 'foreign', forgetting if not forgiving any glitches but scathing on anything from home. It is no doubt frustrating for a director as was evident in 'Aayirathil Oruvan' team meet. Given the fact that the film starts with the disclaimer that it is fiction, how can a director answer if the film is belittling Cholas?

I had given a 'Visitor review' and one of the editorial board members had mailed me with her perspective, rather a woman's perspective on the film. There will be different perspectives in which a film is seen, but the criticisms or panning of the film are quite absurd, just like it was in 'Naan Kadavul'. Writer Jeyamohan had mentioned about Bala's take on criticisms

சினிமா கோடிக்கணக்கான பேரைச் சென்றடையும் ஓர் ஊடகம். அதைப்பார்ப்பவர்கள் பலவேறு மனநிலைகளில் அறிவுநிலைகளில் பண்பாட்டுச்சூழலில் வாழ்பவர்கள். அவர்கள் பல்லாயிரம் தரப்பை உருவாக்கிக் கொள்வார்கள். அவற்றை எல்லாம் எதிர்கொண்டு விவாதிக்க எழுத்தாளன் முயன்றான் என்றால் அவனால் வேறு எதையுமே செய்யமுடியாது.

Reg 'Aayirathil Oruvan', there was the same criticisms that Cholas or Tamils(?) are shown as barbarians. In 'Naan Kadavul', there was pre-release 'publicity' that the film has a climax of hero eating the heroine. In either film, nothing was shown explicitly and even if it was indeed alluded, I dont find anything wrong with that. In Aayirathil Oruvan, the events unfold in an imaginary island in South East Asia. It could easily be Jarawa (Andaman Islands), that is shown. To quote,

Along with other indigenous Andamanese peoples, they have inhabited the islands for at least several thousand years, and most likely a great deal longer. The Andaman Islands have been known to outsiders since antiquity;

Since 1998, they have been in increasing contact with the outside world and have increasingly been the choosers of such contact.

I also remember the article published in Hindu long back - Who speaks for the Jarawas?. Again to quote,

In 1997, a group of Jarawas made contact for the first time with the outside world. It was a move that triggered numerous problems for them and has left them teetering on the brink of extinction.

often they come out of their jungle homes to accept fruits and coconuts from visitors. Their white teeth gleaming against their dark skin, the children look like ebony carvings.

Inhabitants of the dense rain forests of the Andaman Islands, the Jarawas have been living for millennia as hunter-gatherers.

Infact, my regard for the director only goes up.