Director Harish Shankar has ignited a social media firestorm in defense of actor Ravi Teja, following a critical tweet aimed at the actor’s script choices. Shankar is currently directing Teja in the upcoming film “Mr. Bachchan,” a remake of the Hindi film “Raid.”
The controversy arose when a Tamil film critic shared a screenshotfeaturing the film’s heroine, Bhagyashri Borse. The critic’s accompanying comment, “Ravi Teja’s heroine selection wins over his script selection,” implied that Teja prioritizes attractive leading ladies over compelling scripts. This remark disparaged Teja’s filmography, suggesting a string of subpar scripts.
Shankar, a staunch supporter of his leading actor, did not hesitate to respond. He took to Twitter, highlighting the critic’s profile information, which listed “Telugu” as the second-to-last preferred language. Shankar cleverly used this detail to question the critic’s qualifications to judge a Telugu film yet to be released. He further expressed a humorous regret at not casting the critic as a comedian, acknowledging the unintentional humor of the tweet. Shankar concluded by encouraging the critic to continue providing amusement.
Shankar’s tweet has garnered significant support from Ravi Teja’s fanbase. However, some social media users expressed partial agreement with the original criticism, pointing to Teja’s recent string of commercially unsuccessful films.
“Mr. Bachchan” aims to generate excitement beyond the script selection debate. The recently released showreel showcasing action, drama, romance, and other elements has garnered positive responses. Bhagyashri Borse’s casting has also drawn interest, with the actress securing other projects before the film’s release.
Mickey J Meyer’s musical composition adds another layer of anticipation for fans. The production team boasts Avinash Kolla as the production designer and Ujwal Kulkarni handling editing duties. Panorama Studios and T-Series jointly present the film, produced by TG Vishwa Prasad under the People Media Factory banner, with Vivek Kuchibhotla serving as co-producer.
With the film nearing completion and the social media battle lines drawn, all eyes are on “Mr. Bachchan” to see if it can deliver on the promise of the showreel and silence the critics, both online and at the box office.
