Korean Kanakaraju, headlined by Varun Tej, is now playing in theatres. The film is off to a good start at the ticket windows, but it has been surrounded by controversy. A section of Nandamuri fans felt that the movie disrespected Sr. NTR, referring to the scene in which Satya imitates the late legend. They alleged that the entire sequence was intentionally planned to mock Sr. NTR, and the concerning video was made viral a few days ago.
A while ago, the team held a press meet during which Varun Tej was asked about the issue. He replied, “Those portions were shot last November with the same dialogue. There is a huge difference between trolling and imitation. We only imitate great actors. We never intended to disrespect Sr. NTR. For example, I imitated Pawan Kalyan garu’s Vakeel Saab role in F3. We did it in a healthy spirit. Even during the promotional campaign, Satya imitated Krishna garu and Chiranjeevi garu.”
Varun added, “It’s only in a fun space. We imitate them only because they are great actors. We never had any wrong intentions. The social media reactions are not in our control. People are enjoying the scenes in theatres. Satya has imitated many actors in his previous films. Zero disrespect to anyone.”
Director Merlapaka Gandhi said, “While we shot that scene, that video was trending online. It’s quite common to include trending memes in films these days, as they are likely to strike a chord with the audience in theatres. Once again, that video started doing the rounds on social media. Hence, people connected with it instantly.”
