IMA objects to Sunny Deol’s Suryaa over doctor portrayal

A teaser has put Sunny Deol’s upcoming crime thriller Suryaa: Ant Se Aarambh Tak in the middle of a pre-censor debate. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked the government to review the film’s promotional material, arguing that its portrayal of doctors and hospitals could have real-world consequences.

What the IMA wants

The IMA has written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeking an urgent review of the film’s promotions and its depiction of alleged corruption and violence against healthcare workers. The association says it does not defend wrongdoing, but that individual cases should be dealt with through legal and disciplinary action rather than being used to discredit an entire profession.

Its worry goes beyond one movie: the IMA says such a narrative could leave audiences with the impression that corruption and unethical practice are the norm in Indian healthcare.

Why the teaser is in the spotlight

The teaser was released on October 19, coinciding with Sunny Deol’s birthday. In it, his character questions the trust patients place in doctors and alleges that some professionals exploit that trust for money. One line says a patient can arrive with a minor illness, be put through 25 tests and end up with a bill of Rs 5 lakh. Another says doctors at an organisation called Hope write “commission slips” instead of prescriptions.

Directed by M Padmakumar, Suryaa is billed as a crime thriller inspired by what the makers describe as unbelievable true events. It is a remake of the 2018 Malayalam film Joseph, which dealt with the unethical practice of falsely declaring patients brain-dead for organ harvesting. After that release, the IMA’s Kerala wing criticised the film, saying families of brain-dead patients had become reluctant to donate organs.

The IMA’s letter points to three specific risks:

• Generalising corruption as the norm for doctors and hospitals.
• Depicting violence against doctors, nurses and hospital staff as heroic or justified.
• Weakening doctor-patient trust and discouraging young people from joining medicine.

What happens next

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has clarified that Suryaa has not been submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification. That makes this an argument about a teaser, not a ruling on the finished film. The IMA has asked for an impartial review and, in its letter, “appropriate action if warranted under the law.”

For audiences, the practical takeaway is simple: treat a teaser as a promise of tone, not as a summary of the film’s final position. The censor board will eventually see the full cut, which is where any changes could be required.

Suryaa also stars Ravi Kishan, Pragya Jaiswal, Tanushree Chakraborty, Manish Wadhwa, Tinu Anand, Virti Vaghani, Jisshu Sengupta, Khalid Siddiqui, Anoop Trivedi and Rohit Tiwari. It is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on November 20.

Source: India Today