by Subhash K Jha

"This is a country where you get jailed for cutting a tree but get away after cutting someone's neck... And you could be hanged for killing a deer and go scot-free after killing a humanbeing."

When Madhavan playing the title role in his new Tamil film Thambi speaks the above lines , audiences simply go ballistic.

The reference to Salman Khan's case is quite evident. The line makes a direct reference to the cult of celeb- bashing and the loopholes in the judicial system that allow the real culprits to get away with murder.

Says Madhavan, "We certainly had Salman in mind while writing those lines. We talk about cinema expressing a social concern. But we never stand by people from our own fraternity. It's very important for us to stand united as one industry and speak about injustice in one voice, not as Bollywood or Tamil cinema but Indian cinema.

"I play a crusader on the lines of Nana Patekar in Kranti-veer. When Nana spoke of social injustice and politial corruption the times and situation were different. Today I feel our cinema needs to address itself to different issues. And the concept of justice is certainly geeting blurred. The murderers of Jessica Lal go free while Salman gets hounded for killing a black buck. It's crazy."

Thambi is Madhavan's biggest film to date.

"We released the film with a record-breaking 120 prints," says producer Dr Murli Manohar. "And the impact is beyod all expectations. Madhavan is being hailed as the new reformist-Guru. Thambi doesn't prescribe violence . In fact he wants to reform the villains without aggression. Fists are passé in Thambi."

Going by its impact Thambi is soon expected to be made in Hindi.