Meiyazhagan on Netflix underlines male bonding without usual melodrama
C Prem Kumar, who gave us that captivating 96 with Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha, has now dropped his latest, a pre-Diwali release, Meiyazhagan, now on Netflix.
After Daren Sammy alleged that he was subjected to racism in the dressing room of Sunrisers Hyderabad during his stint with the team in the 2014 Indian Premier League, an old Instagram post of Ishant Sharma has resurfaced where he has called Sammy “Kaluu (means Black)”.
Just to confirm it, i did a recheck. Sadly its true. pic.twitter.com/Oz75DzPMWM
— Long May We Reign (@WeBleedBlue007) June 9, 2020
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Daren Sammy had earlier expressed his anger upon realising the meaning of the word “kaalu” and the intent with which it is used in our country from a Netflix show. He had revealed that he and Sri Lankan cricketer Thisara Perera faced racism during their time with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The former West Indies captain then put an Instagram video on Tuesday saying that it was not only the fans and that the Hyderabad players had also offended him. He asked them to provide a clarification and issue an apology at the earliest.
“Knowledge is power. So recently I discovered a word that I was being called was not what it actually meant, I need some answers. So before I start calling out names I need these individuals to reach out and please tell me there’s another meaning to that word and when I was being called it, it was all in love,” read the post along with the video.
“I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all the dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people,” Sammy said in the video.
“This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013-14, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people,” he added.
Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn’t know the meaning and he thought it was not degrading as his teammates used to laugh every time whenever he was called with that name.
“I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called using that word, I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are happy, so it must be something funny,” Sammy said.
“Now, I realise that it wasn’t funny. I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or in a degrading way? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to call me with that word, think about it, let’s have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed,” he added.
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