Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has come out in defence of producer Allu Aravind amid the controversy surrounding his recent remarks about Kannada star Yash.
RGV said the controversy was “ridiculously laughable” and argued that Allu Aravind’s comments had been taken out of context.
Referring to Yash, RGV said Allu Aravind’s statement that he did not know the actor before KGF should be understood in that context.
He drew comparisons with other stars who became nationally or globally recognised after landmark films.
“The Hindi audience did not know Prabhas before Baahubali. They did not know Rishab Shetty before Kantara. I did not know Marlon Brando before The Godfather,” RGV said.
Varma added that Brando may already have been a major star through films such as A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront, but those films were not necessarily familiar to Indian audiences at the time.
He said the larger point was that certain films make actors much bigger stars, rather than those films succeeding only because of the stars involved.
RGV also cited Hollywood as an example, saying major studios often spend heavily on concept-driven films rather than depending entirely on star power.
He referred to filmmaker Christopher Nolan and said actors in his films are often chosen for their suitability and performance rather than merely for their box-office pull.
According to RGV, films such as Oppenheimer or The Odyssey would attract audiences primarily because of the filmmaker and the concept, irrespective of the individual stars involved.
Coming back to the Allu Aravind controversy, Varma said only people taking the remark too personally would see it as an insult.
He further remarked that the strong reaction to the statement itself reflected the kind of thinking that influences the films being made today.
RGV’s comments have now added another angle to the debate over Allu Aravind’s remarks on Yash and the role of star power in the success of big-budget films.
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