Former AIADMK minister and Rajya Sabha MP CV Shanmugam has been receiving severe backlash for his "insensitive" and "derogatory" remarks on actor Nayanthara at a political event in Viluppuram.

At a protest condemning the DMK government, organised by the AIADMK–NDA alliance, Shanmugam said, "The Chief Minister asks us to state our dreams. I want actress Nayanthara. Will he give her?. Someone will say, 'Marry me with Nayanthara.' Will be fulfil that dream?". His remarks have triggered outrage and criticism from politicians and social media users with many urging leader of opposition and former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami to take action against him for his "distasteful" remarks.

This is not the first time the politician has sparked controversy with his statement. Last year, he made a remark comparing women to government freebies. "Many announcements will come for the elections. They will provide mixers, grinders, goats, cows for free, and why, they might even give a wife for free to each person," he said. The comments came under massive fire from fellow politicians and internet users for "demeaning women".

Meanwhile, on the work front, Nayanthara was last seen starring alongside Chiranjeevi in the Telugu action-comedy film Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu. Up next, she has a massive line-up of films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam including Sundar C's Mookuthi Amman 2, Gopichand Malineni's NBK 111 and Mahesh Narayanan's Patriot, among others.