Major Mukund Varadarajan AC (P) was an Indian Army soldier who was born in Kozhikode, and raised in Chennai. A Tamil, Major Mukund V belonged to the Brahmin caste, which has never been concealed or hidden at any point in time. Yet a section of the film audience expressed disappointment with Amaran, a biographical film on Major Mukund's life. 

Amaran released in theaters on October 31, 2024 marking Diwali, and in it actor Sivakarthikeyan who plays Mukund refers to his father and mother as 'Naina' and 'Sweety' respectively. Varadarajan, Mukund's father, and Geetha Varadarajan, Mukund's mother played by Geetha Kailasam, were also shown to be dark-skinned, as opposed to the real life Varadarajan and Geetha who are fair and dusky skinned respectively. 

Mukund Varadarajan parents, sister reel (top - still from Amaran) Vs real (Bottom 1: Mukund's mother Geetha, Mukund's father Varadarajan, Bottom 2: Mukund's father, Mukund's sister)

This irked the section of the early Amaran audience, and accusations were levelled that Mukund V's Brahmanical roots were shadowed in the movie. Recently team Amaran held a 'success meet' to acknowledge the response the film has been getting in theaters, and speaking at the event, Amaran director Rajkumar Periyasamy made some clarifications. 

Addressing the accusation that no Brahmin would ever call his father as Naina and mother as Sweety, Rajkumar Periyasamy said that it was Mukund Varadarajan who affectionately referred to his parents as 'Naina' and 'Sweety' in real life. They just retained the same in the movie. 

Rajkumar Periyasamy also revealed, "'Mukund has always liked to identify himself as an Indian. He (Mukund Varadarajan) was of the opinion that even his certificates shouldn't carry any type of signs (like Brahmin under caste). So please only give him the identity of an Indian, a Tamilan', was the request of Mukund Varadarajan's parents whom he affectionately referred to on a daily basis as 'Naina' and 'Sweety'. This was his family's request in our very first meeting. Beyond that, as a creator I didn't find it important to be highlighting caste, be it this caste or a different one, in a movie which is a tribute (to the army men of this country)."