BENGALURU: With the release of
Baahubali 2 running into troubled waters in the state over one of its actor's alleged anti-Karnataka remarks, filmmaker
SS Rajamouli
on Thursday distanced himself from the controversy. In a video message titled `An appeal to all the Kannada friends', he said though the actor's comments hurt Kannadigas, they have nothing to do with the movie.
“Whatever Sathyaraj (who plays Kattappa in the film) said has no relation with the movie or its crew. The comments were made nine years ago. Since then many of his movies have been released, including
Baahubali 1. I request everyone to support Baahubali 2. We have informed Sathyaraj about the situation, which is the most we can do,“ said Rajamouli.
The video in Kannada went viral soon after Rajamouli posted it on Facebook. Within three hours, it was shared by nearly 10,000 people. Rajamouli said Sathyaraj will not face any loss if the film is not released. “He's just one of its many artistes,“ he added.
However,
pro-Kannada organizations
are in no mood to listen to anything less than an apology by Sathyaraj. The outfits, including
Kannada Rakshana Vedike
, have threatened to observe a bandh on April 28 if the film is released.
Dhriti Shetty