When he uploaded a video of himself cuddling a tiger, comedy actor-turned-hero Santhanam found himself in hot water. He had no idea that he would face criticism from users of social media. He received criticism from internet users for this video’s promotion of animal brutality in the comments section. He may be seen cradling a tiger tail that appears to be exhausted in the popular video. Many urged him to acknowledge his error and remove the video.
On Monday, December 26, Santhanam posted a video of himself holding a tiger on social media. The video appears to have been captured while he was on vacation. Then he took hold of the tiger’s tail. The trainers jabbed the tiger with a stick when it remained motionless. “Idharku per then (tiger emoji) valai pidikratha #tigerlove #traveldiaries (sic)” was the caption he used when posting the video. Is this how you grab a tiger’s tail? is a rough translation of this.
Netizens immediately demanded that he remove the video after it was posted because it encouraged animal mistreatment and cruelty. He was dubbed “sick” and “irresponsible” by many. Some criticised him for being conceited because he hadn’t removed the video after receiving a lot of negative feedback from online users.
