Filmmaker Susienthiran, along with actor Nidhhi Agerwal, has issued a clarification video as a response to the severe backlash the director has been facing for his behaviour when Nidhhi was speaking at the audio launch of his upcoming Simbu-starrer Eeswaran.

At the launch, Susienthiran was seen nudging and interrupting Nidhhi Agerwal throughout her speech. He asked her to say, "Simbu mama, I love you," and seemingly made Nidhhi uncomfortable.

Susienthiran, in his clarification video, states that "Mama, I love you," is a dialogue from the film, and that the character Nidhhi portrays says the same to the male lead played by Simbu. "That's the reason why I asked her to say it. People have misunderstood me," said the director in the video.

At the event which took place on Saturday, Susienthiran came up to the stage to "translate her speech to Tamil." At one point during her speech, Nidhhi, who is making her Tamil debut with Eeswaran, said, "I'll speak. I'll speak a little, for once," before thanking the filmmaker for giving her the opportunity. However, Susienthiran kept nagging the actor to "speak about Simbu, because that's what the audience wants."

When videos of the incident hit social media, netizens took to Twitter to express their anger, urging the director to apologise to the actor.

Eeswaran, which also stars Nandita Swetha, and Bharathiraja, is scheduled for a Pongal release on January 14.