Priya Prakash's wink continues to upset religious fundamentalists

Two people from Hyderabad have filed a plea in the Supreme Court against Priya Prakash Varrier over her wink in the upcoming Malayalam movie Oru Adaar Love, citing that winking is "forbidden in Islam."

The applicants have claimed that the visuals from Manikya Malaraya Poovi song, along with the lyrics, can be characterised as blasphemy. "The 30 second clip shows a young schoolgirl and schoolboy exchanging smiles, eyebrows wiggles and winks from across the way. It has completely captivated audiences but with a wrinkle on the face of religious Muslims," Bar & Bench quotes the applicants as summarising in their petition.

The applicants have tried to bring the attention of the court towards the references to Islam in the song. They claim that under Sahih Muslim, winking in forbidden.

"...the pictuarisation of the present song is a deliberate attempt to malign the image of Islam. The present song is intended to outrage the religious feelings and beliefs of the Muslim Community. The present act of the petitioners [makers of the film] and other members involved in casting of the song amount to an offence under section 295-A IPC [i.e. deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings]," the applicants contend.

One of the applicants had earlier lodged a complaint against the song in February. The Supreme Court had stayed all the FIRs against Priya Prakash after she requested the court to quash all the criminal proceedings against her. She had also requested the court to direct states to not entertain any complaints against her in connection with her wink in the Malayalam movie, Oru Adaar Love.

The song is the stylized version of Thalassery K Refeeque's 1978 song. It is based on mappilappattu, a popular song form among Muslims in Northern Kerala. The original track talks about the qualities of Prophet Muhammad's first wife Beevi Khadeeja.

Priya Prakash shot to fame with her wink in Manikya Malaraya Poovi in Oru Adaar Love. She became an internet sensation overnight and earned huge fan following.