Venkatesh Maha issues clarification of his statements on 'masala entertainers' and 'KGF Chapter-2' 

Venkatesh Maha, who recently got himself into trouble due to his statements on Masala Cinema and KGF 2, has issued a clarification on the same. In a video he shared on Monday night, the actor-filmmaker, said, “It has come to my notice that the opinions I have voiced in a recent interview of mine have offended a lot of people. No, I am not taking back my opinions. I am standing by my opinions. That said, the kind of language I used in the interview, in the heat of my emotions, was not appropriate. It was irresponsible of me as a filmmaker to use that language. I am apologizing for the language I used to express certain opinions, but I am not taking back my opinions." 

Reflecting on the comments he made on KGF 2, Maha continues, “It was not my intention to demean or belittle the Kannada people or the Kannada film industry at large. It was a conversation on cinema in general. In the same video, I wholeheartedly appreciated another Kannada film. I was making a point about giving respect to all kinds of films.” Maha finally closed his video with the statement, “ I am saying it again, I have a right to express my opinions. I sincerely apologize for the kind of language I used to express that. I hope everyone will understand my point of view. Happy filmmaking.” 

Maha later shared a written statement late Tuesday morning, urging netizens to not troll the other directors on the panel, by writing, “I empathize with the emotion of all the fans in everything that happened over the last 24 hours. There is a lot of discussion happening about that panel and the 2 mins you are watching is a clip out of the context. It makes me sad that along with me, my fellow filmmakers on the panel are also getting trolled. I don't want any of them to take a hit for my opinions. They are some of the most respected directors in the Telugu film industry, and I humbly request you all to protect that.”

Directors Nandini Reddy and Vivek Athreya have also apologized for their statements made in the interview. Nandini wrote, “Every commercial film which has become a success because the audience has loved something in that effort. The conversation was never meant to deride anyone’s work but to have a positive debate on what can diversify the narrative of commercial cinema. Apologies for any offence caused.” 

Expressing his apologies in a similar vein, Vivek Athreya wrote, “When you are listening to a conversation or being a part of a conversation for hours, you will react to the way how it goes and sometimes may get carried away. In the interview which was telecasted yesterday, I was just reacting to the way it was told, it was neither intentional to hurt anyone nor their work, be it a commercial film or any kind of film, belittling or demeaning someone’s work does not fall under my intentions or ethics truly, in that case, if I hurt anyone intentionally or unintentionally, I apologize.”