Brand Ram Charan takes a beating

The public brawl that put Ram Charan in the headlines for all the wrong reasons was not the worst thing that happened to his image. When he finally decided to break the silence, the number of gaffes and foot-in-mouth moments he provided has only made things even messier for him
From filmi dialogues and veiled threats to a an inconsistent plotline that kept changing every minute, the Mega Power Star���s antics at the recent press meet has become the topic of discussion in the social media for days now! What began as a damage control endeavour fast became the reason why the actor is being considered Tollywood���s biggest bad boy! Unable to come up with even a single convincing answer, Charan���s cringe-worthy statements triggered off online memes like ���Mere paas baap hain...��� and ���Cherry, cherry, Yes Papa���.Here���s a look at some of the most picked-on statements from the ���press meet video��� that���s gone viral.
I can withstand this, they cannot!
Charan: ���I request the media, don���t take this any further, if you do, I can deal with this legally... I can withstand it, but don���t spoil their careers, please... they cannot take it forward. They are two working individuals and one of them is going to the US. Definite ga visa ki problem avuthundi (they will have definitely have visa problems if I lodge a complaint). I request all of you on their behalf to consider this as a bad incident and let it go.���
Well, for someone who claims to have hardly spoken to the techies, (whom he never once addressed by their names) Charan seems to know an awful lot about them, their ���career��� prospects and what the consequences of taking this forward will be! A veiled threat on live TV, is it?
I request Human Resources (!) not to take this up further
Charan: ���If they, human rights people, think I did wrong, I am ready to face it. my legal team will also act against it. So, I request the Human resources (Yes, he said that!) not to take it up any further. It is not good for the careers of the two boys. Let them lead their normal lives. That���s all I request everybody, this is my version, believe me if you want, otherwise, I will take action.���
Maybe, if Charan knew it was the Human Rights Commission and not ���Human Resources��� that is probing the case, he wouldn���t ask them to stop!
Things happen in a scuffle... No, there was no scuffle at all. Where���s the blood?
Charan: No sir, you are not understanding. my security guards did not assault them. My security guards are strapping 6-footers. if they had really beaten the techies up, there would have been blood. Where was the blood? They were just pushed gently away from my car; there was no scuffle.
When asked, how the victim���s shirt got torn?
Charan: ���While they were pushed around, a minor scuffle ensued because of which his shirt must���ve gotten ripped. Anyway, you haven���t seen the video live, have you? How can you jump to conclusions just looking at pictures. I was not even there! My picture was morphed...! Being a cinema guy who is part of the media, even I can���t tell what dialogue took place between the guards and the techies. how can you take a stand by just looking at the picture?
The ���Mega Power Star��� must first look up meanings of ���scuffle���, ���gentle push��� and then perhaps, crosscheck that with the violent image the pictures paint. Yes, pictures, not one... but 28-30 of them. All morphed, you say? Blood...? Dialogues? May be we���re getting a little too filmi here?
Law abiding citizen?
To a question why Kalyan had to be carried to the police station if there was no scuffle at all?
Charan: ���That���s what I���m saying... (No, really what are you saying?) The two dishevelled men came up to my car window and started banging on it, even as they hurled abuses. One of them was bare foot on the street. They were behaving in a very erratic manner and on seeing that, I called ���my��� security persons. It was a Sunday afternoon; those techies could have been drunk as well. They were acting very ���different���. If they weren���t under influence, why did they come out without chappal? I was with my wife in the car and decided not to step out. I���m a law-abiding citizen... In situations like these, big people always end up getting blamed.
The question was still not answered... And anyway, is it ok for ���big people��� to let their security guards loose on two allegedly dishevelled, drunk (and not to forget, chappal-less) men instead of calling the cops, if they were so much of a threat? So much for being ���law abiding.���
Charan is worried about everyone���s ���careers���. What about his?
Charan: ���I know the photographer who clicked those pictures, but I���m refraining from naming him because that could finish his career.... I did not lodge a police complaint because it could jeopardise the duo���s careers... Please don���t take this case further, think about the two guys��� careers...���
Currently, with a whole lot of jokes and campaigns to ���boycott his movies��� floating online, maybe Charan, the ever magnanimous hero, who���s saved three young careers, should re-think what he did to his own image with his badly written screenplay he blurted out on live TV. Here���s one of the funnies that���s being circulated ������Cherry Cherry... yes papa! getting out of the car... No papa! telling lies? No papa! Look at the visuals... ha ha ha!��� Need we say more!
karthik.pasupulate@timesgroup.com