The much-anticipated Globetrotter event for the SS Rajamouli-Mahesh Babu film, where the makers unveiled the first glimpse and Varanasi as the title of their film, was held on Sautrday, amidst a lot of frenzy and euphoria. However, the enthusiasm was dampened by many technical glitches at the venue, including a few failed attempts to play the glimpse on time. 

Later in his speech, Rajamouli addressed the same. The filmmaker said, “I am not a big believer of god. A while ago, my father came upto me and said, ‘Hanuman will stand by us, and protect us through all troubles.’ I felt angry upon hearing it, thinking, ‘Is this how he protects us?’ The director also shared that his wife is a big believer of Hanuman too, and treats the deity like a friend. “I felt angry upon her too,” Rajamouli said.

Once the clips of Rajamouli’s speech began circulating online, Rajamouli’s remarks draw a lot of criticism online from certain section of audience, who reprimanded the filmmaker for his ‘blasphemous’ attitude.

An X user named Keerthy posted, “Too disappointed with S S Rajamouli sir remarks regarding Lord Hanuman. He maybe an atheist but doing such comments regarding god is completely unacceptable.”

This was just one of the many posts made online yesterday, criticising the filmmaker for his remarks, while accusing him of milking religious references as part of his cinema for years. It is to be noted that the released poster for Varanasi yesterday too is brimming with religious iconography.

The leading cast and crew of the film, including Mahesh Babu, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, MM Keeravani, Deva Katta and others were present at the event too. Mahesh Babu's family, including his wife Namrata and daughter Sitara were present on the occasion too.