Director Venkatesh Maha gets into trouble for his statements on KGF 2 and  masala entertainers

Filmmaker and actor Venkatesh Maha seems to have irked a section of film lovers with his comments on commercial entertainers. He made the statement during the women’s day special interview hosted by journalist Prema Malini. The panel comprised Telugu filmmakers known for their progressive portrayal of female characters. Directors Mohan Krishna Indraganti, Nandini Reddy, Shiva Nirvana, Vivek Athreya and Venkatesh Maha spoke at the one-and-half-hour-long conversation. 

Clips of statements made by Venkatesh Maha, where he also criticized the story of KGF 2, have been making rounds on social media recently. Taking a dig at the concept of masala cinema, Maha said, “Everybody keeps saying masala, masala, masala. I, for one, would like to know which shop these masalas are sold in. We (referring to members in the panel) are not able to find it in any shop." He went on to call masala entertainers, 'popcorn films'. "There is a reason behind it. If you are watching one of these films eating popcorn and some of it falls, you can leisurely bend down pick back the popcorn and continue watching the film without missing anything. Our films are unlike that, you cannot miss a single detail.” 

Maha also shared that the films made by the members of the panel deserve a theatrical release than the mainstream entertainers. "The kind of films we make, demand a sustained focus of the audience, unlike masala films. The films we make should be considered for theatrical experiences, not mainstream films. The masala films can be watched despite the presence of distractions.” 

Disagreeing with the audience for calling his character Joseph from Ante Sundaraniki (2022) a psycho, Maha said, “People keep telling me on Twitter that Joseph is a psycho character. I cannot disagree more. He is actually the most evolved character of all, as he readily accepts to marry a woman impregnated by another man. When Vivek Athreya narrated the story, I was instantly taken by how progressive Joseph is. I try to adopt the same value system in my films. Everybody except Joseph in Ante Sundaraniki is a flawed character”. 

Ridiculing Prashanth Neel’s narrative choices in KGF 2, Maha continued, “I am not going to name the film but, mothers usually ask their sons to be a great person, earn well and be a contributor to society. But this mother demands her son to get a lot of this form of wealth(gold). The son does earn the gold, but he then audaciously sinks all the gold. This (Rocky Bhai) is a terrible person as he leaves behind thousands of workers with some welfare housing without actually giving the gold to them. He instead drops all of them in the ocean. I have never seen someone more horrible than Rocky Bhai. I want to meet the mother, who raised this great man.”

Maha has also mentioned the filmmakers in that panel can make mainstream directors can a run for their money if they want to, “With the credibility and aesthetics all of us (the panellists)have we can give the mainstream directors a run for their money if we put aside all the social consciousness and choose violence. But we are making a conscious attempt to not do that. That is why we are seen as inferior.”