Madras Cafe has already stirred controversy with a Tamil activist group, Naam Thamizhar (We Tamils), seeking a ban on the John Abraham-starrer for reportedly portraying Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members as terrorists. However, this hasn’t been the only reaction after the release of the trailer. Many have praised the trailer and the actor describes the film as “hard-hitting”. “The feedback to Madras Cafe has been fabulous,” said Abraham. “All I can say is that it is a different film. A lot of people say that their films are different, but once you see Madras Cafe you will realise why I am saying this.” Abraham said at an interaction at the IMG-R training camp. [caption id=“attachment_1030955” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A screengrab of John Abraham.[/caption] “There is also an element of controversy surrounding the film, so I have to keep travelling to Chennai and back,” said the actor. “I think people can see that it is going to be a hard-hitting film. They have realised that these are the events that changed the political history of the country. We have spoken about assassinations, we have spoken about controversies.” Several speculations had been doing rounds regarding the film, including speculation about actor Ajay Ratnam’s role in Madras Cafe which may have been inspired by late LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. When asked if so is the case, Abraham said, “We have taken inspiration from a lot of people. But it is a work of fiction. The backdrop though is about Tamil conflict and the Sri Lankan civil war, so you might find many characters resemblances… That is why I said it is a very hard hitting film.” “We have formatted it in a very commercial way,” elaborated Abraham. “The youngsters perhaps do not know what happened in the late ’80s and early ’90s, so we would like them to watch it. I don’t know if it is a good film or a bad film but it is definitely a film you must watch.” Director Shoojit Sircar’s response to the controversy has been that the content of the film is simple and it has been cleared by the censor board with U/A certificate. Madras Cafe releases on 23 August.