Venkatesh Maha apologises for his tone on comments against ‘KGF’

The ‘C/o Kancharapalem’ director took to his social media accounts to apologise for his satirical tone, albeit stating that he stands by his opinions.

Hyderabad: Filmmaker Venkatesh Maha has been mired in controversy after his remarks against the Kannada film series ‘KGF’ in an interview. The ‘C/o Kancharapalem’ director took to his social media accounts to apologise for his satirical tone, albeit stating that he stands by his opinions.

Maha recently took part in a ‘Women’s Day Special Interview’ along with filmmakers Shiva Nirvana, Mohan Krishna Indraganti, Nandini Reddy and Vivek Athreya, moderated by film journalist Prema.

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In the interview, while speaking about formulaic movies and the portrayal of women, Maha said, “I won’t name the movie, but in it, the mother asks for some quantity of something (gold). The hero goes and liberates people who work there. In the other part, there were thousands of people he could have built houses for, but he throws the rest of the gold (sic),” he says.

“A mother asks someone to become such a lowly dog-like person, and we are clapping for that kind of a story,” he adds.

Following the filmmaker’s remarks, several fans on social media began attacking Maha, and other panellists for laughing and supporting his viewpoints. However, after realising that his tone had obscured the context of the conversation, Maha took to social media to apologise to the viewers.

In a video statement shared on social media on Monday night, Maha said, “I didn’t say it to insult a particular industry, it was a discussion about films in general. I apologise for the language, but the discussion that the opinion started has to be taken into consideration,” he said.

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He further said that he has voiced his opinion on behalf of a small section of people, adding that he criticised a fictional character and not any real person. He requested the audiences to respect his opinion.

“My intention was to say all kinds of films must be loved equally. My remarks were not intended towards a particular real-life person, I abused a fictional person. But now I, a real person, am being abused terribly and my (inappropriate) images are being created. I hope you respect my opinion and respect all kinds of films,” the filmmaker said.

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Other filmmakers on the panel also took to their social media to apologise and clarify their stances. “Every commercial film which has become a success is bec the audience has loved something in the effort . The conversation was nvr meant 2deride anyones work but rathr hv a positive debate on what cn diversify the narrative of “commercial cinema”. Apologies fr any offence caused (sic),” director Nandini Reddy wrote.

Every commercial film which has become a success is bec the audience hs loved something in tht effort . The conversation was nvr meant 2deride anyones work but rathr hv a positive debate on what cn diversify the narrative of “commercial cinema”. Apologies fr any offence caused 🙏🏼

— Nandini Reddy (@nandureddy4u) March 6, 2023

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