At the trailer launch event of ‘Major’, Mahesh replied to a North Indian journalist who asked about his Hindi debut by saying that “Bollywood can’t afford me.†His comments went viral instantly and became a topic of discussion for many film pundits. The superstar tried to clarify on what he said at another press meet but things blew way out of proportion already.
Recently Boney Kapoor who produces both North and South films has responded about it. He said, “I can’t comment on this because I belong to both sides, Bollywood and South. I have done films in Tamil, and Telugu and soon will be doing a Malayalam and a Kanada film. So I am not the right person to comment on this. Also, Mahesh has the right to say whatever he feels and he probably feels the Hindi film industry may not be able to afford him. He may have his own reasons for saying this. To each is his own opinion who are we to comment? I am the last person to comment on this. If he feels that way, it is good for him. It’s a free world and everybody has their own opinion, everybody can say what they feel is right.”
Not just Boney Kapoor but maverick director Ram Gopal Varma who cannot keep himself away from trending topics too had something to say about it. He told, “It is his choice as an actor. But I honestly didn’t understand what he meant by Bollywood can’t afford him. I am still unable to figure out what he meant by that because the point is, if you see the recent South Indian films, they were dubbed and released and they made whatever money they did. Also, first of all, Bollywood is not a company. It is a label given by the media. An individual movie company or a production house will ask you to do a film at a particular cost, so how can he generalize Bollywood, I don’t understand that. Bollywood is not a company, so his context is not understood.”
Let us wait and see where this saga ends!
