Filmmaker Trinadha Rao Nakkina sparked a controversy on Sunday at the teaser launch event for his upcoming film Mazaka, with his remarks about Anshu who plays one of the female leads in the film. On Monday, the director issued an official apology for the same.

Releasing a video statement, the director said, “I was informed that many women were offended by my comments made at the event yesterday. This is to clarify that I made those remarks in an impromptu manner, in an attempt to make everyone laugh. Nonetheless, I apologise wholeheartedly for those remarks, to Anshu as well as anyone who was hurt by those comments.”

It is to be noted that on Sunday, while talking about Anshu’s casting in his film, Trinadha Rao had said, “We were floored when we first saw in Manmadhudu (2002). She has lost a little weight over all these years, so I myself asked her to eat and gain a little weight, telling her this won’t be enough for Telugu audience. Everything needs to be in bigger sizes.”

Later on Monday, Sundeep Kishan too shared a statement on his X page, adding, "Yesterday was an unfortunate slip of the tongue by our director. It’s a wrong example to set and we should have been cautious to avoid it. Trinadha garu and Team Mazaka apologises for the poor choice of words to Anshu garu and to all Women out there. We are because of you."

Besides Anshu, Mazaka stars Sundeep Kishan, Ritu Varma and Rao Ramesh in prominent roles. The comedy entertainer has been slated for a theatrical release on February 21.