Amid being flooded with the wave of support and solidarity from the fans and fraternity over the threat and legal notice from the PMK and Vanniyar Sangam with the claim that the Jai Bhim has defamed the Vanniyar community, actor Suriya has opened up for the first time since he has got legal notice with the demand to pay Rs 5 crore. Suriya's message of expressing gratitude for everyone who stands by with the Jai Bhim team has been going viral.

Suriya took to social media on Wednesday and wrote, "Dear all, this love for Jai Bhim is overwhelming. I've never witnessed this before! Can't express in words how thankful I am for the trust & reassurance you all have given us. Heartfelt thanks for standing by us." Suriya's response, which has no mention of the legal notice from the Vanniyar Sangam, has come two days after the notice was issued to him and to the Jai Bhim team and amid the furore stirred by the PMK backed affiliates over a fallacious claim that the movie has brought disrepute to the Vanniyar Sangam. 

On Monday, the state president of the Vanniyar Sangam has issued a legal notice to Suriya and TJ Gnanavel in which the president has demanded the makers of the movie to tender an unconditional apology and remove the scenes from the movie that are defamatory against the community. The notice was served in the albeit of the fact that the scenes were removed from the movie. The notice was sent by advocate Baalu, a PMK leader, on behalf of Pu Tha Arulmozhi, the president of the Vanniyar Sangam. Besides Suriya and Gnanavel, the notice has also included the names of Suriya's wife Jyothika, who produced the movie under the banner of 2D Entertainment, and a representative of Amazon, as the movie was directly released on Amazon Prime Video on November 2.

The notice has urged the makers to cease making or publishing any false, malicious, and defamatory remarks against the Vanniyar community and its people. It has asked Suriya and the team to pay Rs 5 crore within seven days from the time and date of receipt of this notice for causing disrepute for the community. While the Vanniyar Sangam, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, his peers, and party cadres have castigated Suriya for hurting the sentiments of the Vanniyar community, fraternities from the Tamil cinema industry and hundreds of thousands of fans have thrown more weight behind Suriya by expressing their support and solidarity. 

The attack on Suriya has got the fans to reaffirm their love for the actor with the social media trend #WeStandWithSuriya. On Tuesday, Suriya's residence in T Nagar, Chennai was given police protection to counter the threats issued to the actor. A security detail with the armed police officers was provided after a report from the intelligence suggested that there is a possible threat to the actor. It is the first time that the actor had drawn police protection. The security was provided after a threat from PMK's Mayiladuthurai district secretary Panneerselvam. 

Panneerselvam had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone who would kick Suriya. His reward political had escalated tensions between the communities. On November 14, a group of PMK cadres led by Panneerselvam had stormed into a theatre in Mayiladuthurai and forced the manager to stop screening a Suriya film. However, the protests against Jai Bhim had got contained within the circle of PMK and the Vanniyar Sangam as it hasn't harmed the reach of the movie across and beyond the borders. 

Political leaders like Thirumavalavan, directors like Bharathiraja, Pa Ranjith, Venkat Prabhu, Vetri Maaran, and Lokesh Kanagaraj had supported Suriya while the fans have been trending the hashtag #WeStandWithSuriya. The movie has garnered an immense welcome and reception across and beyond the borders and poured more reputation for Suriya in his career and in his aspiration to bring a change. Jai Bhim was released directly on Amazon Prime Video on November 2 and it was dubbed in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. It has become a career breaking picture for Suriya and the movie was inspired by true events. 

Jai Bhim talks about the custodial torture and caste discrimination faced by the tribal community in 1995. Former Judge of Madras High Court Justice Chandru was an advocate at that time when he had courageously fought against human rights violations and this battle was related to a bleak story where a tribal woman, who belonged to the Irular community, fought in the court against the custodial torture given by the police to her husband, who would eventually die in the police custody. 

The movie revolves around how women from a background community endure an ordeal in fighting against injustice. It also has shown how the ignorance of the backward community is being used by the dominant caste people to conceal their crimes. Suriya has played Chandru in the movie and through Jai Bhim, Suriya had appeared as an advocate for the first time. Bankrolled by Suriya and Jyothika under their own banner 2D Entertainment, the movie is directed by TJ Gnanavel and while Suriya plays the lead role, Prakash Raj, Rajisha Vijayan, Lijomol Jose, Rao Ramesh, Guru Somasundaram, and Sibi Thomas had played important roles. Sean Roldan has composed the music.

Dear all, this love for #Jaibhim is overwhelming. I’ve never witnessed this before! Can’t express in words how thankful I am for the trust & reassurance you all have given us. Heartfelt thanks for standing by us ✊🏼

— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) November 17, 2021